The electronic payments system provides benefits that are an essential part of day-to-day operations for locally owned, independent businesses and their workers.
Credit card issuers spend an estimated $100 billion on rewards and partner payments, funding the cash back and points programs small businesses need
Customers spend 5x more when using credit cards vs. cash
In 2021, our electronic payment system stopped $80 billion in fraud attempts
Washington needs to hear from you, not just the big box retailers who stand to benefit the most. Tell Congress how important credit cards and our electronic payments system are to your business operations.
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Tenth Washington Fly-In Follows SBPA Panel at CHCI Leadership Conference Highlighting Importance of Electronic Payments for Entrepreneurs Washington, DC — Members of the Small Business
The Small Business Payments Alliance welcomes the preliminary approval of the Visa and Mastercard Small Business Credit Card Agreement and the certainty it provides for millions of small businesses that depend on credit cards every day.
Colorado members of the Small Business Payments Alliance (SBPA) applauded Governor Jared Polis’ decision to veto legislation that would have caused chaos for small businesses across Colorado. Small business owners across the state have mobilized against the bill, SB 26-134, based on concerns about its impact on local businesses that depend on credit cards and credit card rewards.
Accepting credit cards provides merchants unique benefits that generate significant
net value above and beyond the cost of acceptance.
The Durbin-Marshall credit card bill was introduced last year in Congress as the “Credit Card Competition Act” (CCCA), and the bill’s sponsors are pushing for a vote this fall. The proposed legislation is a direct threat to the electronic payments and rewards system and would have a major negative impact on small business owners who use credit cards and rewards to support their businesses. Despite its name, the legislation would circumvent the competitive market with a new government routing mandate that would dictate processing networks, without regard to security or quality.
Credit cards are very popular among U.S. consumers. By year-end 2024, there were 608 million open general purpose card accounts, a 35% increase since 2018.
Consumers prefer using electronic payments when making purchases at small businesses. As consumer preferences continue to shift towards using cards and digital payment apps
over cash, small businesses that accept these payments offer a better customer experience and generate higher sales, allowing them to better compete with larger firms.
New data from the Small Business Payments Alliance once again reaffirms the value of credit cards for small businesses. According to consumer surveys and research gathered over the first quarter of 2024, credit cards continue to provide crucial benefits to small businesses.
This research note finds the proposed Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) will likely generate between $13 billion and $15 billion in transfers to merchants from financial institutions and consumers. However, this distributional analysis finds almost all of those savings will accrue to retailers with $500 million in sales or more—none of which constitute small businesses under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) definition.
The Holiday Season is in full swing and as consumer spending rises, so too do fraud attempts. According to a 2022 study by AARP, three out of four U.S. adults age 18-plus have been targeted by or experienced at least one form of fraud. Fortunately, more and more consumers and merchants are using credit cards to protect themselves against financial losses.
