The company that owns 6,300 convenience stores across the country has launched a signature drive to get Congress to take up card interchange fees.

7-Eleven Inc., is putting the petition at all of its stores' check out counters across the country to try to generate popular support for an effort that the company argued will help, primarily, small business franchise owners.

"7-Eleven stores are operated by franchisees who represent more than 6,000 small businesses on Main Streets and in neighborhoods across America," Darren Rebelez, 7-Eleven Inc. executive vice president and chief operating officer has been quoted in the trade press. "This petition drive is a grassroots effort to get a fair deal, spearheaded by small business owners in the communities where they live and with the customers they serve every day."

He added, "Interchange fees are hurting individual small business operators, which represent more than 75% of 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. Because more and more customers are using credit cards for small purchases, there are small transactions where the operator actually loses money. The fundamental challenge is that in most business relationships, both parties have the ability to negotiate, and in this case we do not."

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