As a small business owner in Ohio, I am deeply concerned about the rising cost of swipe fees and the impact on my business and our economy as a whole.

These fees, which are charged every time a customer uses a credit or debit card to make a purchase, have more than doubled since 2010, despite advances in technology that should have lowered their costs.

What’s more alarming is that swipe fees now add up to over $140 billion a year. Americans pay the highest swipe fees in the world, and it’s time for Congress to take action to address this issue by passing the Credit Card Competition Act.

Ever-rising swipe fees are a clear example of how the financial system is rigged in favor of large financial institutions and against small businesses and consumers.

Americans pay the highest swipe fees in the world.

Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard dominate the market, with over 75% of spending by purchase volume.

Credit card companies set the rate of swipe fees that major financial institutions collect from businesses, allowing them to extract excessive profits from merchants and consumers without competing at all on price.

This in turn leads to higher prices for goods and services, as businesses are forced to pass on the cost of swipe fees to consumers.

High swipe fees hurt the working class the most. Small businesses like mine operate on razor-thin margins, and these fees often make up our second-highest overhead cost.

Rising swipe fees make it difficult to pay our employees, invest in new technology, and grow our businesses.

These fees are also regressive, meaning they hit low-income families the hardest. Those who can least afford it are forced to pay higher prices for goods and services just to cover these hidden fees. Yeah.

And unlike late fees, regardless of whether a customer pays on time or not, businesses are charged a fee just for accepting a particular payment method.

The cost of these fees is also not transparent to consumers. This lack of transparency has allowed swipe fees to continue driving massive profits for big banks off the backs of small businesses and consumers — all unbeknownst to Americans.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and are forced to compete for business.

The least Congress can do is ensure the credit card giants also have to fairly compete. That’s exactly what the Credit Card Competition Act would do.

Credit cards issued by the largest banks in the U.S. would be required to allow at least one alternative payment network, in addition to Visa or Mastercard, to compete.

This means merchants could choose which network to use when processing transactions.

The resulting competition between payment networks would lead to lower fees, improved security, and better service for merchants and their customers. According to estimates, this change would result in savings of up to $11 billion per year.

I hope Ohio U.S. Sens. J.D. Vance and Sherrod Brown fight for Ohioans by working to ensure the passage of the Credit Card Competition Act this Congress.

It’s time to put an end to this unfair and unjust system that hurts small businesses and working-class families.

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Jeff Mathes is the owner of Due Amici, a restaurant in Columbus..

This story is provided by Ohio Capital Journal, a part of States Newsroom, a national 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. See the original story here.