PRINCETON, N.J. -- Merchants are receiving hundreds of dollars in savings since interchange or "swipe"-fee reform went into effect on October 1 as a result of the Durbin Amendment in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act, according to Heartland Payment Systems, one of the nation's largest payments processors. The company has released the first state-specific data about the interchange-fee reform legislation's actual effects on business owners in various states across the country.
The data collected between October 1, 2011, and October 16, 2011, across Heartland's portfolio of 250,000 merchant locations shows that for every $100,000 of Visa and MasterCard signature debit-card and credit-card volume processed, the average savings per merchant across all states is $260.24. Washington, D.C., merchants received the highest average savings of $333.94, while Montana merchants saw the least average savings of $127.87.
The savings variance from state to state is a result of the number of large versus small banks in the area, as well as the mix of credit-card and debit-card volume processed.
These figures represent the averages of actual credit versus debit and regulated versus nonregulated debit transactions for Heartland merchants and do not include the impact of PIN debit volume.
"Merchants are wondering how the percentage of regulated versus nonregulated transactions in their states would impact their savings, and this data provides insight into exactly that," said Bob Baldwin, Heartland's president. "By providing business owners a frame of reference for how much money, on average, their peers across their state are saving from Durbin, they have an idea of what their own savings may be. Familiarizing themselves with this information is a preliminary step in ensuring they receive the full benefit of the reform."
Average savings per merchant for every $100,000 of Visa/MasterCard signature debit-card and credit-card volume processed:
- Alabama, $260.92
- Alaska, $131.68
- Arizona, $326.13
- Arkansas, $223.11
- California, $299.60
- Colorado, $280.27
- Connecticut, $261.05
- Delaware, $270.76
- Florida, $296.28
- Georgia, $304.07
- Hawaii, $197.47
- Idaho, $245.66
- Illinois, $271.53
- Indiana, $209.95
- Iowa, $153.94
- Kansas, $170.65
- Kentucky, $217.22
- Louisiana, $295.91
- Maine, $154.09
- Maryland, $320.37
- Massachusetts, $225.89
- Michigan, $232.20
- Minnesota, $212.24
- Mississippi, $195.71
- Missouri, $222.06
- Montana, $127.87
- Nebraska, $230.00
- Nevada, $332.33
- New Hampshire, $202.63
- New Jersey, $308.58
- New Mexico, $238.94
- New York, $272.16
- North Carolina, $325.53
- North Dakota, $134.88
- Ohio, $314.27
- Oklahoma, $207.97
- Oregon, $267.47
- Pennsylvania, $233.22
- Rhode Island, $284.19
- South Carolina, $250.47
- South Dakota, $186.64
- Tennessee, $260.38
- Texas, $310.43
- Utah, $198.20
- Vermont, $151.16
- Virginia, $289.90
- Washington, $244.83
- Washington, D.C., $333.94
- West Virginia, $202.76
- Wisconsin, $158.54
- Wyoming, $156.82
Princeton, N.J.-based Heartland, the fifth largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, gift marketing and loyalty programs, payroll, check management and related business solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide.
Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of swipe-fee reform.
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