A financial regulation bill that Congress has been working to put on the President’s desk this week now includes provisions to reign in swipe fees credit card companies place on small business owners.

The provision’s sponsors say companies such as Visa and MasterCard use their power to take advantage of small businesses, increasing the percentage taken in the form of interchange fees for each purchase – in some cases as much as 3 percent of the transaction total. As the provision reads now, it would give the Federal Reserve the ability to cap those fees to be “reasonable and proportional to the actual cost incurred.” That could mean the fees will drop to less than half what they are now.

This isn’t all good news for small-business owners; however, as the imposed fee changes may motivate some credit-card companies to eliminate or greatly reduce rewards and incentive programs.

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Source:

CNNMoney: Retailers Score in Swipe Fee Fight