Stop Wall Street from Fleecing Merchants

Promoting Competition in the Payments System

Competition is a hallmark of America’s retail industry. It drives innovation and brings consumers lower prices, new products, and services. However, the lack of competition in the payments ecosystem has led to bloated fees that U.S. merchants pay to accept credit and debit cards. In 2021, U.S. retailers paid an astounding $138 billion to accept electronic payments, a significant increase from 2015 when merchants paid $83 billion, and this past year’s number is more than double what the retail community paid in 2011, $64 billion.

In partnership with the Retail Litigation Center, RILA is pursuing legislative and legal remedies. RILA recently won a critical victory with the Federal Reserve’s clarification of online debit routing. After the enactment of the Durbin amendment as part of the Dodd-Frank reform bill, RILA has spent the past several years working with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission to ensure that a “merchants' right to route” is not blocked by Visa and Mastercard.  

The lack of routing options in the e-commerce environment was compounded during the pandemic, as Americans significantly altered their shopping behavior. The Fed’s clarification, set to go into effect on July 1, 2023, will bring meaningful competition to online debit routing and save merchants hundreds of millions of dollars. RILA will continue to advocate for legislation that brings competition to the credit and debit markets, while the Retail Litigation Center examines potential litigation routes to seek damages for failure to follow the law.