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B.A.R.C. Update |
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I In
response to the rule change the Bankcard Association Rules Committee (BARC)
was formed. The committee conducted several conference call meetings and
made a presentation to Visa. As a result, and in what some view as an act
of concession or perhaps an effort to pacify the banks, the percentage has
been increased, but the amount of the increase varies bank to bank. The
highest increase we have heard of is 60%, which still doesn’t pacify
many banks. Some industry members report that whether the percentage is
20% or 60% it is still equally constraining to smaller banks. Some
in our industry interpret the rules to mean that Visa views the smaller
banks as irritants that aren’t worth their efforts. The reasoning behind
this opinion is that in some senses, Visa doesn’t need to worry about
the chargeback problems of large banks because the large banks’ losses
are absorbed by their huge volumes. But, smaller banks are unable to
absorb the losses that large banks can weather, therefore, Visa may have
to step in. Some industry members feel that the rule change may be an
effort to put small banks out of business by encouraging consolidation by
banks, which would mean the card associations have less to manage. Recently,
the members of BARC had a meeting with the ETA where they essentially
passed the torch. For additional information contact Kirk Kahler
at the ETA by calling (800) 695-5509.
Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is a non-profit
association conducting programs in research, education, industry
relations, and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 members including
their subsidiaries—food retailers and wholesalers around the world.
FMI’s domestic member companies operate approximately 21,000 retail food
stores with a combined annual sales volume of $220 billion—more than
half of all grocery store sales in the nation. FMI’s retail membership
is composed of large multi-store chains, small regional firms, and
independent supermarkets.
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