This year, consumers are spending more on back-to-school supplies and coughing up more to cover a particular kind of credit card fee at the same time.
Total back-to-school spending is expected to reach a record $41.5 billion with another $94 billion in college shopping, according to the National Retail Federation.
“Swipe fees are astronomically high and make everything more expensive,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores and an executive committee member at the Merchants Payments Coalition.
Swipe fees, also known as interchange fees, have more than doubled over the past decade and jumped $22 billion to a record $160.7 billion last year. When the National Retail Federation first started tracking swipe fees collected by Visa and Mastercard in 2001, they amounted to about $20 billion.
“That’s a lot of money,” Kantor said. “Bankers skimming off the top of every transaction.”
Card payments have benefits, too
Banks and card companies charge the merchant about 2% of the transaction, on average, every time a credit card is used to make a purchase. Now, with margins strained, retailers are passing most, if not all, of that cost on to consumers.
But with each credit card transaction comes benefits for businesses, such as higher sales, a larger customer base, fraud protection and guaranteed payment, according to the Electronic Payments Coalition.
“Electronic payments are four times cheaper to process than cash,” said Aaron Stetter, the Electronic Payments Coalition’s executive director. “According to big-box retailers’ own consultants, credit and debit card payments will save them over $7.5 billion on back-to-school shopping this year.”
However, most of the value is “happening behind the scenes,” he added. “You don’t necessarily see it at the front end.”
There are advantages for consumers, as well. Swipe fees largely fund credit card rewards, he added. There are some grocery rewards cards that can earn you as much as 6% back at supermarkets, while a generic cash-back card will earn you 2%.
“There’s a lot to be said about the value of rewards,” he said. “I would be wary of biting the hand that feeds you.”
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components
This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
