More than 170 amendments have been filed to the financial regulatory reform bill now before the Senate, and to expedite the process, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has asked senators to consolidate their amendments, NACS reported. On Monday night, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) filed a new amendment (#3932), merging the main provisions of…

On May 4, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced an amendment that would help consumers avoid high fees at ATMs, as the Senate began debate on the financial reform bill. “In recent years, Congress has acted to protect consumers by setting appropriate limits on the types of fees that financial institutions can charge consumers. However, one…

Building on 7-Eleven’s successful “Stop Unfair Credit Card Fees” consumer petition campaign, convenience store operators joined with U.S. Representatives Peter Welch and Bill Shuster to deliver an additional two million new customer signatures collected during the NACS “Stop Unfair Swipe Fees” campaign, which is asking Congress to put an end to unfair, hidden credit and…

The issue of interchange fees found an audience at the Georgia House Banks and Banking Committee, which listened to testimony last week on HB 1456-a bill that deals with the subject of interchange fees.   Often late session bills are buried in subcommittees, but significantly Committee Chairman James Mills, who co-sponsored the bill, allowed the…

C-store sales jumped 5% in 2009 despite the economic conditions, reduction in overall consumer spending. Convenience store in-store sales grew 4.9% in 2009, one of the lone bright spots in a battered U.S. economy that saw overall retail sales drop 7%, according to figures released today by NACS. The industry numbers were announced in Chicago…

Kum & Go, L.C. has collected more than 40,000 signatures from customers wanting to  control and reduce credit and debit card swipe (or interchange) fees put on customer transactions.  The signatures were collected in one month from all Kum & Go stores as part of NACS’ Fight Swipe Fees petition drive. “Kum & Go joined…

Kum & Go, L.C. has collected more than 40,000 signatures from customers wanting to control and reduce credit and debit card swipe (or interchange) fees put on customer transactions.   The signatures were collected in just one month from all Kum & Go stores as a part of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS)…

The state of Vermont is proposing an amendment to S. 138 being introduced today in the Vermont Senate. This amendment would allow merchants to set minimum and maximum transaction amounts for all debit, credit and charge card transactions, permitting them to reject a customer’s card. The Electronic Payments Coalition has spoken out against the amendment…

There’s no doubt that 2009 will go down as one of the most challenging years ever for the convenience store and petroleum industry. Combined with the poor economy that plagued marketers all year, credit card fees and tobacco regulations added fuel to a fire that, quite honestly, was already burning out of control. For this…

Is there relief ahead for exorbitant credit card fees? The answer is yes. But first, there’s a fight to be fought. According to NACS in Alexandria, Va., credit card payments have grown from 21% of transactions in 1995 to 49% today, with the trend expected to grow to more than 50% by next year. The…