I am writing because I want to help raise awareness about a bill currently being considered in Congress but not really receiving a lot of attention. Congress is considering a bill called the Credit Card Competition Act that is being pushed by the lobbyists of large retail chains. The bill is supposed to help reduce swipe fee’s that are allegedly leading to higher prices at the check out. That is all well and good on the surface, but does anyone really believe these stores are going to reduce prices and pass those savings along to shoppers? I don’t.

In addition, there have been some disturbing articles that lay out the possibility that this bill, if passed, would cause credit card companies to find creative ways to make up those losses on the backs of the credit card holder. One way to off-set those losses would be to do away with the credit card rewards programs that so many of us have become accustomed to and frankly have relied on to take vacations, or save on every day purchases. I don’t know if that is true, but if there is even the slightest possibility that could happen our elected officials in Washington need to oppose this bill. I’ve already called and emailed Senator Shaheen and Senator Hassan and hope others do as well.

John Pinkerton

Concord