Steven Semeraro of Thomas Jefferson School of Law joins the blog as a Guest Blogger for the summer. Steven’s two recent papers, Credit Card Interchange Fees: Debunking Six Myths and Credit Card Interchange Fees: Three Decades of Antitrust Uncertainty argue that the current interchange-fee-setting system poses no substantial competitive threat. His work also takes on the issues of consumer welfare created by the effects of interchange fees. My favorite of the “Six Myths” is that the easiest solution to problems arising from the pricing of interchange fees is to permit merchants to surcharge credit card transactions. One of my complaints in the area of interchange fees is the lack of transparency in how much credit card use actually costs consumers even under the current system.We look forward to hearing Steven’s thoughts on a variety of payment issues, including the Federal Reserve’s plans to alter Regulation Z (see What's in your wallet?).
