The Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association praised the Pennsylvania House Finance Committee for advancing House Bill 2090, legislation that would stop credit card companies from charging swipe fees on Pennsylvania sales tax, the Harrisburg-based trade group announced Feb. 4.
HB 2090 addresses an imbalance in the credit card marketplace where two payment networks control more than 80 percent of the market and impose fees on merchants. Under the current system, retailers are charged interchange fees on the full transaction amount, including sales tax – money collected on behalf of the Commonwealth that merchants never retain.
“For food retailers operating on razor-thin margins, being charged swipe fees on sales tax is fundamentally unfair,” said Alex Baloga, president and CEO of the PFMA. “HB 2090 delivers a narrowly tailored, common-sense fix that protects Main Street businesses, helps keep prices down for consumers and restores basic fairness to the payment system.”
Beyond ending swipe fees on the sales tax portion of transactions, HB 2090 would improve fairness in disputed transactions by preventing penalty fees from being imposed until liability is formally determined. The bill also ensures card networks cannot restrict lawful pricing practices, including how merchants advertise discounts or surcharges.
Enforcement authority under HB 2090 is limited to payment card networks and would be carried out by the Pennsylvania attorney general. Banks and credit unions are not subject to enforcement actions under the legislation.
PFMA welcomed the House Finance Committee’s action on HB 2090 and looks forward to working with allies to advance the legislation.
The Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association (PFMA) has advocated for the food and beverage industry across the Commonwealth since 1952. The association represents nearly 500 member companies that operate thousands of retail food stores, production facilities and distribution centers, and collectively employ more than 350,000 Pennsylvanians.
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