Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008

Bill: 110-hr-5546
Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14]
Introduced: 2008-03-06 in the House
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative law judges
Antitrust law
Contracts
Credit cards
Debit cards
Fees
Finance and Financial Sector
Law
Retail trade

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: 
Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 - Authorizes providers of a single covered electronic payment system (e.g. Visa or Mastercharge credit cards) and any merchants to jointly negotiate and agree upon rates and terms for access to such a system. 
 
Defines covered electronic payment system as any system that has been used for at least 20% of the combined dollar value of U.S. credit, signature-based debit, and PIN-based debit card payments processed in the applicable base year.
 
Grants limited antitrust immunity to such providers and merchants, as well as to those providers who jointly determine among themselves the proportionate division of paid access fees.
 
Sets forth procedures to determine rates and terms for access to a covered electronic payment system. 

Prohibits any other rates and terms from being imposed upon a merchant for accessing a covered electronic payment system except as specified in a voluntarily negotiated access agreement.
 
Creates a panel of three full-time Electronic Payment System Judges, appointed by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition, to determine the schedule of rates and terms for three-year periods. Subjects any determination of such Judges to judicial review.
 
Authorizes providers and merchants to engage in voluntarily negotiated access agreements. Declares that such voluntarily negotiated access agreements shall be given effect with respect to the signatories in lieu of any determination by the Judges.
 


action_date: 2008-10-03
text: 
Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 - (Sec. 2) Sets forth a limited antitrust immunity to providers of covered electronic payment systems and merchants for negotiation of access rates and terms. Authorizes providers of a single covered electronic payment system (e.g. Visa or Mastercharge credit cards) and merchants to jointly negotiate and agree upon rates and terms for access to such system.
 
Authorizes such providers to jointly determine the proportionate division among themselves of paid access fees.
 
Denies such immunity during any period in which such a provider or merchant is engaged in any unlawful boycott.
 
Requires the rates and terms of a voluntarily negotiated access agreement to be the same for all merchants and participating providers, regardless of their respective category or volume of transactions.
 
Requires the negotiating parties to file with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice a schedule for negotiations within one month following enactment of this Act. Directs the Antitrust Division to issue such a schedule, and inform the negotiating parties, if they fail to file a schedule before the deadline.
 
Requires issuers, acquirers, owners, and merchants to make specified disclosures regarding itemized costs and access agreements.
 
Requires a representative of the Antitrust Division to attend all negotiation sessions conducted under the authority of this Act.
 
Requires the negotiating parties to file jointly with the Antitrust Division any voluntarily negotiated access agreement that affects any market in the United States or elsewhere, including the various components of the interchange fee, and a description of how access fees that merchants pay are allocated among financial institutions and how they are spent.
 
Directs the Antitrust Division to report to certain congressional committees on: (1) the negotiations conducted under this Act during the first six months after its enactment; and (2) if a voluntarily negotiated agreement is reached, whether such access rates and terms will have an adverse effect on competition, and how such rates compare with access rates and terms in current use in other countries.
 
(Sec. 3) Declares that nothing in this Act shall limit the ability of acquirers or issuers that are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration or that, together with affiliates, have assets of less than $1 billion, to opt out of negotiations under this Act.
 
(Sec. 4) Requires agreements reached pursuant to the limited antitrust immunity under this Act to provide that: (1) when any fees that a merchant is charged for access to a covered electronic payment system are reduced, the merchant shall pass the benefits on to customers or employees; and (2) when any fees that a financial institution collects for access to a covered electronic payment system are increased, the institution shall pass those benefits on to its customers or employees.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-10-03
text: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 588.
action_date: 2008-10-03
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 110-913.
action_date: 2008-10-03
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 110-913.
action_date: 2008-07-16
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 16.
action_date: 2008-07-16
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2008-05-15
text: Hearing Held by the Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws.
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E318-319)
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Introduced in House