In this article for Modern Retail Management, our CEO weighs in on the rejection earlier this week of a $30 billion proposed settlement over credit card transaction interchange fees.

“Eric Cohen, CEO of payment processor negotiation service Merchant Advocate, said the settlement was expected to be rejected following a hearing earlier this month. He said the settlement would have done little to truly relieve store owners of the cost burdens of interchange fees. One proposed requirement in the settlement to limit the fees by four basis points, for example, would be about $400 on $1 million worth of transactions. ‘You’d never see that,’ Cohen said. ‘If you really look at the industry, the reduction in cost may never actually reach the business owner.’

He also said the proposal didn’t attempt to address rates for future types of credit cards. Currently, cards with high rewards will carry a higher interchange fee. ‘It doesn’t say they can’t come out with new cards or rules, and that could increase fees,’ he said.”

Read the full piece here.