[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14511]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               SWIPE FEES

  (Mr. WELCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago, Congress took action finally to 
reform out-of-control debit card swipe fees charged to our small 
businesses and customers every time they swipe a debit card. For years, 
the card companies and big banks have essentially been ripping folks 
off, overcharging them on swipe fees. With no one watching just because 
they could, they were charging the highest fees in the world, running 
up billions of dollars in profits but all at the expense of small 
businesses and consumers. That's just too much. There is no 
justification for this.
  A year ago, Congress finally took action on the debit cards. That's 
good for our economy and fair to our small merchants. But we need to do 
more.
  Abuses continue in credit card swipe fees. The credit card companies 
and the big banks should step back and have a business model where they 
charge a fair price for an important service but not rip off their 
customers.

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