National Restaurant Association Comments on Announcement that Visa(R) Will Publish Interchange Fee Schedule on Web site (October 19, 2006) | Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 19, 2006	CONTACT:	Sue Hensley 202-331-5964 Chrissy Shott 202-331-5902 media@restaurant.org
National Restaurant Association Comments on Announcement that Visa(R) Will Publish Interchange Fee Schedule on Web site Washington, DC - The National Restaurant Association is pleased that Visa appears to be starting to respond to the efforts put forth by the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC). The National Restaurant Association plays a leading role as a member of the MPC, which is actively working on legislative, marketplace, and litigation fronts to stop the rapidly escalating interchange fees that are hurting American restaurants, retailers, and consumers. "While we are pleased that Visa now appears willing to post its fee schedule, we are still asking for full disclosure of all the rules by which merchants must abide, and will be demanding this in the litigation against Visa and MasterCard®," said Todd Mann, senior vice president of Business Development at the National Restaurant Association. "While Visa states that the rules are available, they are only available to those merchants who have already agreed to accept the credit card, and only after that merchant signs a non-disclosure agreement. Should a merchant be considering whether or not to accept Visa, they should be able to see all the terms of the agreement before signing the contract," said Mann. The Merchants Payments Coalition is comprised of about 20 trade associations representing well over half of the interchange transactions in the U.S. The group represents retailers, restaurants, supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, gas stations, on-line merchants and other businesses that accept debit and credit cards. ### Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which is comprised of 945,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a work force of 13 million employees. Together with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, the Association works to lead America’s restaurant industry into a new era of prosperity, prominence, and participation, enhancing the quality of life for all we serve. For more information, visit our Web site at www.restaurant.org.