Swipe fee reform saves $18 million each day, NRF finds
The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently announced that it estimates that approximately $18 million is saved each day for consumers and merchants since the debit card swipe fee reform went into effect.
The NRF is citing a study from Javelin Strategy and Research which found that more than $6.6 billion has been taken out of banks' debit card swipe revenue. Before October 1, 2011, when the law was enacted, consumers and retailers were charged $22 billion in 2010 for using their debit cards and processing the transactions.
"Merchants haven't necessarily labeled the savings from reform as a 'debit discount' but they have nonetheless found a variety of ways to pass the value along to their customers," NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. "Retailers are simply too competitive not to share savings with consumers because customer value is one of the key ways they take market share away from their competitors."
PYMNTS states that retailers are using the savings from the swipe reform to reduce prices for customers. The new law is helping to improve the U.S. economy and could lead to a decrease in swipe fees for credit cards.
