Don’t Repeal Swipe Fee Reform: RILA

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has once more expressed its strong opposition to any financial reform package that repeals the Durbin Amendment on swipe fee reform. The stance came in response to House Financial Services Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s (R-Tex.) plans to include the rollback of swipe fee reform in his Financial CHOICE Act.

“Preserving swipe fee reform is essential for the retail community and will remain our top priority in the debate over financial reform,” said Austen Jensen, VP, government affairs for Arlington, Va.-based RILA. “If repealing this critical reform remains a part of the CHOICE Act, retailers will remain opposed.

“The nation’s largest banks and credit card companies are raking in record fees and record profits — and passing out record bonuses,” he continued. “Financial reform should not be a vehicle for Wall Street to get even fatter on the backs of Main Street.”

Added Jensen: “Financial reform efforts that cut red tape and improve the ability of small and midsize companies to access capital will be met with open arms by the retail community. But retailers will fight any effort that gives the largest banks and credit card companies a green light to fleece merchants and our customers again.”

RILA members comprise more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers in the United States and abroad.