Lowe’s Joins RILA Opposition to Proposed Swipe Fee Settlement
MOORESVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Today Lowe’s joined the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and
other retail trade organizations in criticizing the proposed swipe fee
settlement and urged class plaintiffs to reject the proposal. Announced
in July, the proposed settlement stems from lawsuits challenging the
anticompetitive swipe fee practices of Visa and MasterCard.
“Hidden credit card and debit card interchange fees cost retailers
billions of dollars a year that ultimately get passed along to
customers. The proposed settlement preserves the Visa/MasterCard duopoly
and does nothing to prohibit the credit card networks from continually
increasing hidden swipe fees, potentially restricts new payment
innovations that could bring competition to the marketplace, and,
provides no transparency to the retailer or the customer of what the
credit card networks charge,” said Scott Mason, Lowe’s vice president of
government affairs.
RILA joins numerous other organizations speaking
out in opposition to the proposal, including the National
Association of Convenience Stores, the National Grocers Association, the
National Cooperative Grocers Association, and the National Community
Pharmacists Association.
Lowe’s is a member of RILA, the trade association of the world’s largest
and most innovative retail companies. 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.
About Lowe’s
With fiscal year 2011 sales of $50.2 billion, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is
a FORTUNE® 100 company that serves approximately 15 million
customers a week at more than 1,745 home improvement stores in the
United States, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1946 and based in
Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s is the second-largest home improvement
retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Karen Cobb, 704-758-3504
[email protected]
Source: Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
