FMI: Visa’s interchange fee increases deplorable

Arlington, Va. The Food Marketing Institute said Friday in a statement that it opposes increases in interchange fees.

In a statement from FMI president and CEO Leslie Sarasin, he said, “At a time when consumers and retailers are fighting for their economic survival and just a few days after they paid their taxes, Visa’s interchange fee increases are deplorable. Interchange is, in effect, a hidden tax on every plastic transaction, fixed by the credit card companies and banks in an anti-competitive market.”

Credit card companies and banks extract an interchange fee averaging about 2% on every credit card transaction. The total cost of interchange fees tripled since the beginning of this decade, from $16.6 billion in 2001 to a $48.8 billion in 2008, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition and data from The Nielson Report.