Leading Payment Coalitions Join Each Other’s Group
The top payment coalitions for businesses on Main Street and those that accept stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value) – the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC) and the Payment Choice Coalition (PCC) – have revealed that they are each joining the other’s group to promote their common goals of boosting innovation, competition and choice in U.S. payments.
“We need new technologies such as stablecoins to make the payments market more innovative and efficient for the benefit of all Americans,” MPC executive committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor. “We have long lagged the rest of the world in payments innovation. The stablecoin industry needs sound regulation in order to provide the benefits of efficiency and choice that would be so promising for our future.”
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“In order for new technologies to flourish, we need new policy to create a competitive landscape in current payments,” said PCC board member Brandon Robertson. “For too long, dominant credit and debit cards have been the only choice for digital commerce and laws have prevented real competition. Changing that is a necessary step to allow new technologies such as stablecoins to come into the market.”
As part of the move, MPC has endorsed legislation to provide a solid, reliable regulatory structure for stablecoins, while the PCC backs legislation to ensure a competitive payments landscape.
Current MPC national association members include the Coalition of Franchisee Associations, FMI – The Food Industry Association, the Merchant Advisory Group, the National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the National Grocers Association, the National Retail Federation, the National Restaurant Association and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, in addition to hundreds of state merchant associations.
Among current PCC members are the International Franchise Association, the Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, Compass Coffee, Prevail Coffee, Coinbase, Circle, Blockchain Association and MoonPay.
The two groups plan to join forces to advocate for policies that they contend will bring competition and innovation to payments.
