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Merchants Coalition Airs Card-Fee Ads

WASHINGTON — The Merchants Payments Coalition, a group that includes several supermarket and retail trade associations, on Monday said it has launched TV ads in several states supporting the reform of debit-card interchange fees.

WASHINGTON — The Merchants Payments Coalition, a group that includes several supermarket and retail trade associations, on Monday said it has launched TV ads in several states supporting the reform of debit-card interchange fees.

The ads feature small-business owners from around the country speaking about the impact of interchange fees, which are charged by banks on every credit- and debit-card transaction. Congress has suggested delaying the proposed limitations on debit-card fees, set to go into effect July 21. A bipartisan proposal in the Senate calling for a 15-month delay could be voted on as early as this week.

"Every month that Congress delays, big banks make another billion," says Tom Largay, owner of Old Port Card Works in Portland, Maine, in one of the ads.

Ads were scheduled to begin airing Monday in Maine, North Carolina, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.