As part of NACS’ “Instore” visits, House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., took a trip down memory lane July 10 when he returned behind the counter at Ralphie’s Minnoco in Clear Lake.
The congressman worked at a SuperAmerica when he was a teenager. He said although there are a few differences at Ralphie’s, some things are the same.
Emmer said he was impressed with the store’s deli and spacious isles for snacks. However, he didn’t have to pump any gas this Thursday afternoon.
“A big difference back then was you actually pump gas,” Emmer said. “I literally had to go out and check air pressure, check oil, do the windows — the whole thing.”
But the trip on Thursday wasn’t just about reminiscing upon his early working days. Emmer spoke with store owner Brian Brehmer and a handful of lobbyists, all of whom expressed concerns about the control Mastercard and Visa have in the credit card industry.
When customers buy goods at Ralphie’s, Brehmer said, he has to pay roughly 25 cents per transaction then 2% of the bill, depending on the credit card company.
These credit card fees are not just for goods, but also taxes. Minnesota Service Station and Convenience Store Association lobbyist Todd Hill said he’d like to see legislation passed to exclude funds collected toward taxes from credit card fees. Illinois passed a law in that vein, which went into effect on July 1.
When the state raises taxes, the credit card fee percentage for businesses to pay typically doesn’t change, so it’s more money leaving the business owner’s pocket.
“So when the state raises taxes, it costs us more to collect those taxes,” Hill said.
Emmer didn’t answer what solutions could be on the table, but he said he’s hearing conversations from both sides of the argument. He said he’s hearing that people want more choices when it comes to their credit card company and that competition could help drive down interchange fees.
“What you hear from the people here today is we want more choices,” Emmer said. “We want more competition. We want to see these people fighting in the marketplace to drive the cost out, which will not just benefit the business, which is the way they were talking about it, but it benefits the consumer.”
Visa and Mastercard account for 84% of the global credit card network, according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Besides credit cards, Emmer spoke with the store’s manager, Kate Goenner, and learned the store is doing a decent job at staying staffed. He said this is a nice change from the early post-pandemic days. Emmer said this is a trend he’s seeing at other businesses he visits, including in the manufacturing industry.
“I’m not going to say they’re fully (staffed), but they’re getting more and more people that are working,” he said.
Contributing writer- Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.