Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 31, 2011
Madam President, I rise to speak about the issue of swipe fees. Most people do not know what a swipe fee is, but it is almost part of your daily life. The next time you reach into your wallet or purse and pull out a piece of plastic to pay for something--such as my debit card--and present it at a retailer or a restaurant or a hotel or a gas station, understand what is happening in that transaction. There are several things that are not even visible. What is happening in that transaction is, you are paying that merchant and your bank is going to honor that payment from your account on your debit card, but then the bank and credit card company are going to charge the merchant for the transaction. In days gone by, if we paid in cash, obviously, there was no fee involved. If we paid with a check--which was done for a long time and is done less and less now--there were pennies charged to process the check. Whether the face amount of the check was $1 or $100--pennies to process the piece of paper through the system. A much more efficient system is being used with debit cards, where we actually are withdrawing money from our own account to the credit of the restaurant or the retailer.…
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Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

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