ACEC Launches New Microsite
To Help Consumers Stop Merchant Check Out Fees
Merchant Push for Price Controls Will Backfire for Consumers and Threaten Choice
Americans for Consumer Education and Competition (ACEC) Site Gives Consumers Voice in Opposing Retailer Push for Check Out Fees
Washington, D.C. - Americans for Consumer Education and Competition (ACEC) announced today its new microsite, StopCheckOutFees.com, will give consumers a voice in opposing the nationwide push by big retailers that would threaten consumer choice by allowing merchants to impose check out fees or surcharges on consumers who pay with plastic.
"Big retailers have spared no expense in their campaign for interchange fee regulation – which really amounts to a push for the ability to pass on the cost of electronic payment processing to consumers in the form of a check out fee or surcharge." said Rebecca Reid, Executive Director of ACEC, a consumer rights and financial literacy advocacy organization. "Consumers need to be aware of the movement afoot by merchants who, in truth, are asking for price controls with no promises to pass the savings onto consumers. The end result is a threat to consumer choice. Our new microsite gives consumers the opportunity to urge elected officials to oppose more regulation and to support consumer choice."
StopCheckOutFees.com provides information on which states have No Surcharge rules in statute and those that don't. The front page of the site shows a mythical retail store employee with a sales receipt that shows consumers how to identify a check out fee at the end of a transaction. The site also notes the Australia experience where "down under merchants" promised to lower their prices in exchange for greater regulation of the interchange fee which funds the cost of processing electronic transactions and providing fraud and security measures. Following Australia's increased regulation, analyses of the fall out show Aussie consumers are the losers as cardholders lost valuable rewards benefits and most merchants not only failed to lower their prices but began imposing check out fees as well.
"The merchants have declared they get nothing from the programs funded by the interchange fee, yet they projected a 5 percent increase in this last holiday season sales, which by their account totals $457 billion," noted Reid. "If 70 percent of shoppers are paying with plastic and big retailers are raking in half a trillion dollars, it defies logic to say merchants are not benefiting from this consumer payment trend. Imagine how much more money can be made off the backs of consumers if 70 percent of them are hit with a check out fee."
Reid further stated that consumer preference of paying with plastic is on a train that long left the station and that online purchasing only encourages consumer behavior to continue toward electronic payment. "Honoring consumer choice feeds a robust economy and remains a key principle in a free market society. We need to preserve that ability to choose and not compromise consumer preference."
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Americans for Consumer Education & Competition advocates for financial literacy and consumer rights initiatives. ACEC communicates with more than 30 thousand consumers interested in issues from financial literacy to budgeting for retirement to cardholder benefits and rights. In addition, ACEC serves as a clearing-house for information on financial issues, as the organization monitors, tracks and provides analysis of financial legislation and litigation that has a direct impact on consumers.