Study looks at merchants’ high credit card fees

OKLAHOMA CITY – Europeans don’t have to put up with high credit card interchange fees, Steve James, chief financial officer for OnCue Marketing, told lawmakers on Thursday. But American merchants have to give up as much as 3 percent of the sale price paid by customers who use plastic at the register.

Bankers’ representatives said credit card merchant fees are just another cost of doing business, and are nothing the state Legislature has any power to change.

State Rep. Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, brought House Study Proposal 7121 before the state House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee on Thursday, to examine “credit card fees and other chargeable fees placed on merchants.”

James’ company owns the chain of OnCue Express convenience stores, with 34 stores in Oklahoma and one in Kansas. Interstate commerce laws prevent the Oklahoma Legislature from attempting to alter the fees Oklahoma merchants must pay for credit card use, but lobbyist Vance McSpadden said the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association wanted Oklahoma lawmakers to be aware of the issue. On the federal level, the issue is being addressed both with legislation and litigation, he said.

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