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Merchants Praise Vermont Senate’s Passage of Interchange Bill

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Merchants Payments Coalition, representing 2.7 million U.S. businesses, lauded the unanimous passage by the Vermont Senate of a bill that would rein in credit card interchange fees.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Merchants Payments Coalition, representing 2.7 million U.S. businesses, lauded the unanimous passage by the Vermont Senate of a bill that would rein in credit card interchange fees.

“Today is a significant victory for Vermont’s small businesses and their customers, and we applaud the Vermont Senate for standing up to the big banks and credit card companies to get this done,” said Jennifer Hatcher, group vice president at the Food Marketing Institute here, part of the coalition. “Credit card swipe fees are one of the largest expenses small businesses face and these huge, hidden fees hurt small businesses and consumers at the very time we’re relying on them to rebuild our economy.”

The legislation — S. 138 — would allow retailers to set minimum and maximum credit card purchases or give cash discounts and take other steps to address rising interchange fees, according to the National Retail Federation.

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