WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Justice has sent a letter to a U.S. Representative signaling its disapproval of a proposal to give the power to set card interchange to a panel of judges.
Writing Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) about HR 5546, the so-called Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 1998, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kieth Nelson expressed doubt that such a bill would do consumers any good.
"First, this bill may actually harm consumers, not benefit them," Nelson wrote. The credit and debit card markets are complex, so-called "two-sided" markets in that each network needs to attract both cardholders and merchants. Pricing on one side of the market impacts the pricing on the other side.
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