Small business owners have been concerned about excessive credit card processing fees for years but have had no possible course of action until now. The Credit Card Competition Act of 2023 (S. 1838 / H.R. 3881) has been introduced in both chambers of Congress, and NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses) released a new video featuring small business owners explaining the impact its passage would have on their Main Street businesses if passed into law.

The Credit Card Competition Act of 2023 seeks to ensure competition in the credit card processing market by allowing small businesses the freedom to choose between multiple credit card networks. Without this legislation, businesses everywhere are subjected to ever-rising processing fees – known as swipe fees – set by large credit card companies in a closed market, free from competition.

“The Credit Card Competition Act of 2023, I think, would be very beneficial to our business,” said Renea Jones, a small business owner from Tennessee. “We just recently started accepting credit cards, and we have noticed that that ‘swipe fee’ has been very expensive for us.”

According to a recent NFIB member ballot, 92% of small business owners believe that businesses should have the right to choose between multiple credit card processing networks. This legislation would help preserve their freedom of choice by injecting much-needed competition into the credit card processing market, allowing small business owners to choose the option that is best for their business.

“Just like we have to compete for clients and for the business that we want to be engaged in, the credit card companies should absolutely not have a monopoly on the business owners that are able to take advantage of their services,” said Michelle Smith, a small business owner from Florida.

Credit card swipe fees have more than doubled since 2012. As small business owner David Henrich from Minnesota explains, there is not a lot that small business owners can do to maintain prices with this added fee.

“I think one thing people forget about all these costs and fees that they think businesses pay is that it’s the consumers who end up paying these fees,” said David. “At the end of the day, if we can reduce those fees, we can stabilize costs.”