The two bills approved by lawmakers contain numerous differences, and negotiations to hammer out a compromise [image-nocss] will begin in earnest this week. All told, they will represent the biggest change to the U.S.'s system of financial oversight in 80 years.
Reflecting the all-encompassing nature of the legislation, some of the widest gaps affect people far from Wall Street. Auto dealers are lobbying hard to be excluded from oversight by a proposed consumer-finance regulator. Retailers want relief from what they say are punitive fees charged by credit-card companies. Nonfinancial companies are fighting for more flexibility in using derivatives.
The Journal took a look at some of the differences that have to be hammered out and those most likely to be affected by the outcome:
The Retailer
Retailers want a provision currently only in the Senate bill that would lift constraints imposed by credit-card networks. They want to be able to offer discounts on cheaper forms of payment, or impose a minimum charge for card payments. Networks currently charge retailers a fixed fee and 1.5% to 2% of the purchase price on credit-card transactions. Debit cards generally cost slightly less.
"Most of my friends and customers are going, 'Why should you care?'", Jay Ricker, chairman of Ricker Oil Co., an operator of 49 gas-station convenience stores based in Anderson, Ind., told the newspaper. "Because I pay for debit," he said. "I'm losing money in many cases. If it's a packet of gum, I'd be better off to just give them the packet of gum sometimes."
Ricker said he would offer discounts of two or three cents per gallon of gasoline for customers paying with debit cards. He would also invest in lighted price signs showing different prices for debit- and credit-card transactions.
"The inside of the store is where I really want them to buy something," he added. He said such fees are a goldmine for some of the nation's largest financial companies, which are fighting hard to strip the bill of the provision.
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"It's pretty crazy to think that the credit-card companies make more off of most small stores than the owners do, but that's the case these days," Ricker, who is also chairman of the National Association of Convenience Stores, said recently when NACS delivered to Washington millions of consumer signatures on petitions urging credit-card and debit-card fee reform (click here).
He added, "From coast to coast, convenience stores pay more in fees to the credit-card companies than they make in profits each year. Millions of Americans have signed these petitions and urged Congress to take action against unfair swipe fees. It's time for Congress to step up to the plate and fix this broken system."
(Click here to view additional CSP Daily News coverage of credit-card and debit-card fee legislation. Andclick here to view Ricker's comments on how retailers would be hurt by a BP boycott.)
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