WASHINGTON — Kathy Miller, owner of the Elmore Store in Elmore, Vt., called credit-card interchange fees "a quick way to go bankrupt" during testimony earlier this week before the House Financial Service Committee here.
Miller said a 35-cent pack of gum that costs the store 21 cents requires an interchange fee of 21 cents, "so I just lost money [and] I should just let [the customer] take it. Obviously we lose money on many small transactions and too much on others, so we have to raise prices because we can't absorb it all.”
Her testimony was made in favor of H.R. 2382, which advocates reform of the credit-card payment system to include lower rates that are cost-based and more transparent to consumers — legislation endorsed by the National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute.
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