Retailers complain to Congress about chip card reader costs
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Oct 22, 2015 | 4:27 pm
1 min read time
260 wordsAll Latest News, Retail and BusinessIs the cost of installing devices to accept credit cards with chip technology too great a burden for small businesses? Some retailers are telling Congress that it is, the Washington Business Journal reported.
Retailers are faced with the choice of installing new technology or assuming liability for fraudulent charges under new rules mandated by the credit card companies that became effective Oct. 1.
The House Small Business Committee heard Wednesday from retailers. The committee’s goal is to serve as “a venue for a fair, open conversation” about this “private-sector transition,” said Chairman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. The move toward the EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa) technology was not mandated by Congress nor by the Obama administration, he noted, but was instead “initiated by the free market.”
Retailers contend they’re already paying for the fraudulent use of credit cards through the interchange fees they pay to banks and credit card companies for processing transactions.
The committee heard from a Missouri restaurant owner who considers the expense of adding a new chip-enabled terminal to be just a cost of doing business. But it also heard from a jewelry and art gallery owner in Washington, D.C., who says he’s “a little overwhelmed” by the cost and complexity of complying with the credit card industry’s new requirements.
Another retailer, Jared Scheeler, managing director of Hub Convenience Stores in North Dakota, said his company has spent $134,500 to make its point-of-sale systems and fuel dispensers EMV-compatible at three of its stores.
“These costs are staggering,” Scheeler said. “The average convenience store makes $47,000 in profits in a year.”
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