"Our goal is to get as many signatures as possible," John McHugh, spokesperson for La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip, told the newspaper.[image-nocss]
Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for NACS, said the weight of customer support is the association's best asset to influence legislation to lower the fees. "Our expectation is we can get this on a legislative agenda," he told the paper. Bills have been drafted in Congress that would allow merchants negotiate payment fees.
The petitions at NACS-member stores have garnered thousands of signatures, said the report.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven recently presented Congress with a petition of more than 1.6 million signatures against unfair card fees.
"There isn't a retailer who wouldn't want it changed," McHugh said.
Critics of the push have said convenience stores are looking to increase their profits, the report said. Lenard said customers would be the first to notice if the fees are lowered, especially at gas stations. "There is no business more competitive than the gasoline business," he said, adding that retailers look for an edge by fractions of a penny per gallon. Even at 2%, fees add up to about a nickel per gallon of gas.
"When retailers sell a gallon of gas, the banks get more money than the retailer," Lenard told the Courier. Some stores offer up to a five-cents-per-gallon discount to customers paying with cash. That discount, or near the amount, could become permanent if legislation limits the fees, he added.
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