California Assemblyman and candidate for Attorney General Pedro Nava has announced that the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee, which he chairs, will hold at least one hearing in January 2010 to investigate credit card interchange rates.

"With the price of gas at more than $3 a gallon, credit card companies and their banks that sponsor gasoline credit cards are collecting as much as 8 cents per gallon for interchange fees. We need to examine our options to lower these fees and pass the savings on to California's struggling consumers," Nava said in an announcement of the hearing.

Nava said he also plans to sponsor an assembly resolution before the end of the year expressing support for the federal legislation that would address card interchange at the federal level.