OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN CHRIS DODD - HEARING TO EXAMINE THE BILLING, MARKETING, AND DISCLOSURE PRACTICES OF THE CREDIT CARD INDUSTRY, AND THEIR IMPACT ON CONSUMERS
See excerpt from opening statement below:
...But I would like to put the credit card industry, issuing banks and card associations on notice. If you currently engage in any business practice that you would be ashamed to discuss before this Committee, I would strongly encourage you to cease and desist that practice. Irrespective of the current legality of such practices, you should take a long, hard look at how you treat your customers, both in the short term and the long term.
And lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention one issue likely not to be explored today-- credit card interchange fees. These fees are imposed on merchants and consumers by banks and card associations when a credit or debit card is used to pay for a purchase. Interchange fees are growing exponentially– and the costs associated with these fees are expected to be between $30 and $40 billion this year alone. These opaque fees, assessed on merchants, are passed on, in part or whole, to consumers who have no knowledge or understanding that a fee is even a part of the cost of bread or milk, or any other consumer product.
I believe that this is another area that this Committee should examine as part of the series of hearings on credit cards.
[Via U.S. Senate Hearing, click here for link]
