Action by Kroger to Ban Visa Credit Cards Reinforces Need fo

Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Austen Jensen issued the following statement in response to today's announcement by Kroger banning Visa credit cards in 250 Smith's Food and Drug Store locations.   

"RILA firmly supports Kroger's decision to challenge the anti-competitive actions of VISA which continue to drive up the cost of accepting credit cards in the U.S. market. Technology has made credit card transactions faster and cheaper to process—yet the fees Visa imposes on these transactions paradoxically grow higher every year.   
 
"If the second-largest supermarket chain in the country does not have the market power to drive down the cost of accepting credit card payments, imagine the impact on hundreds of thousands of small merchants that have no choice but to accept these exorbitant swipe fees in order to operate their businesses.   
 
"Today's action by Kroger reinforces the need for regulators and Congress to address the anti-competitive forces present in the payments market which drive up costs for American merchants and their customers." 
 
RILA submitted comments to the FTC in August 2018, encouraging the Commission to use their regulatory authority to promote competition in the payments ecosystem. 

RILA is the US trade association for leading retailers. We convene decision-makers, advocate for the industry, and promote operational excellence and innovation. Our aim is to reimagine and transform the retail ecosystem - and equip leading retailers to succeed in it.  

RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad. 

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