Two in three small businesses believe legislation that would impose network routing requirements on banks that issue credit cards would benefit large retailers rather than businesses like themselves, according to a new Morning Consult survey commissioned by the Small Business Payments Alliance. The survey asked small-business decision makers about their feelings on the Credit Card Competition Act, sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.). Sixty-four percent of respondents said the bill would benefit large retailers, while 60% said that Congress is pushing through changes to digital transactions without considering the effects on their businesses.
Respondents were also polled on their views on government regulation of payment processing fees. Most (83%) said government regulation should stay the same (48%) or decrease (35%). At the same time, around two-thirds (64%) said that forced adoption of new or updated processing networks will place an unfair cost burden on business owners, with more than half (57%) expecting to see lower profits if new network processing changes are required.
In addition, the survey found that small businesses are more concerned about inflation than processing fees. Only 14% of respondents cited processing fees as a top business expense. Cost of labor (46%), cost of goods sold (34%), inflationary costs (29%) and taxes (29%) were cited as their largest expenses.
