More than 1,600 merchants including Walmart and Target are urging U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation that aims to break the hold that Visa and Mastercard have over the credit-card market.
The bill, which Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R., Kan.) introduced in July, would give merchants the right to route many credit-card payments over networks other than Visa and Mastercard. In a letter this week to all members of Congress, the merchants said the proposed legislation would increase competition, leading to a reduction in the fees they pay when they accept credit cards.
