“Most enterprising storeowners will apply the swipe fee savings to lowering product costs in an effort to be even more competitive in the marketplace,” notes NCASEF chairman.
Bruce Maples, the chairman of the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, in an interview with PYMNTS.com, 
spoke about the Federal Reserve’s new debit rules and noted that the lower interchange fees will decrease product prices at convenience stores.
“The cost for a debit card transaction for the average store will decrease by almost half. The reform will save each franchisee in the country almost 50% of the cost of a debit transaction, which ultimately will be passed on to the customer, in an effort to be more competitive, or used by the franchisee to grow their business or hire new employees,” Maples told PYMNTS.com.
Maples went on to note that security, risk management and the overall safety of debit payments wouldn’t be impacted by the ruling.
“We all know that paying by check is more costly than paying by debit card, yet there is little or no cost to the consumer or the retailer if the consumer pays by check. Debit and credit card fees have simply spiraled out of control as debit transactions have replaced checks and now outnumber credit card transactions in our stores,” Maples told PYMNTS.com.
He reiterated that the new lower merchant costs would lead to lower consumer prices. “Most enterprising storeowners will apply the swipe fee savings to lowering product costs in an effort to be even more competitive in the marketplace. Lower swipe fees enable us to give our customers the best cost of goods possible, and to grow our businesses by adding employees. Unregulated swipe fees eat away at our revenue and prohibit us from hiring more employees and becoming more involved with the communities we serve,” Maples said.
He added that if swipe fees had remained unregulated, they would have continued to balloon and deeply hurt retailer profits.
“This action by Congress and the Federal Reserve, while not quite the level of change we had hoped for, at least puts a cap on what banks may charge and lets them know that retailers, and the public, are watching,” Maples added.
