I love the Op-Ed section of the paper. I believe we all need to write at least one letter on something we’re passionate about in our lifetime. In saying that, I applaud this reader

The average American family incurs over $1,000 in additional expenses annually due to inflated prices resulting from credit card swipe fees. These fees, which can be as much as 3.5%, disproportionately affect middle- and lower-income families.

Visa and Mastercard have over 80% of the credit card market share. This control allows them to increase swipe fees at their discretion. These fees compel businesses, nonprofits and health care providers to raise prices for their products and services.

The Credit Card Competition Act, a bill in Congress, addresses this problem. This bipartisan act would require that credit cards issued by the nation’s largest banks be enabled to be processed over at least two unaffiliated networks — Visa or Mastercard plus an independent network. The availability of more affordable alternatives to process credit cards would incentivize Visa and Mastercard to maintain reasonable swipe fee rates to remain competitive in a free market.

Many Americans are struggling with the impact of high inflation and high interest rates on their household budgets. Congress can do something to help by passing the Credit Card Competition Act.

Richard Kromm, Seattle