As a local restaurant owner and a Colorado brewer, we know firsthand the challenges of running small, independently owned businesses. Every day, we work to create jobs, support our community and serve our customers the best food and craft beer Colorado has to offer. But there鈥檚 one growing expense that we can鈥檛 control that鈥檚 cutting into our ability to invest in our businesses: credit card interchange fees.
Interchange fees 鈥� also known as 鈥渟wipe fees鈥� 鈥� are the charges that major credit card companies (namely Visa and Mastercard) impose on every transaction made with a credit or debit card. These fees have skyrocketed in recent years, costing small businesses like ours tens of thousands of dollars or more annually. In fact, these swipe fees represent one of our highest expenses after payroll and rent. Unlike other business costs, we have no ability to negotiate these fees and we are left with little choice but to absorb them or pass them on to our customers.
For our businesses, credit card swipe fees are a killer. At the G.O.A.T., we pay upwards of $60,000 per year in interchange fees, and $20,000 of that is paid solely on the sales tax and tips portions of our sales 鈥� money that could be used to hire additional staff or upgrade our equipment. From the perspective of WeldWerks, we shell out over $50,000 annually just to process credit card transactions, and more than $10,000 of that is siphoned off for what we pay in sales tax and gratuity. These costs add up quickly and directly affect our ability to grow and sustain our businesses.
That鈥檚 why we strongly support Colorado House Bill 25-1282, the “Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act,鈥� a bipartisan effort that would finally bring some fairness to the system by limiting excessive interchange fees on small businesses and cracking down on the anticompetitive behavior of the big banks and credit card companies. This bill would ensure that the sales tax and gratuity portions of a bill are excluded from the amount on which swipe fees are calculated, preventing credit card companies from profiting on money that doesn鈥檛 even stay with our business.
Consider this: Every time a customer pays with a credit or debit card, we are not only charged a percentage of the actual sale by the credit card company, but we鈥檙e also charged a fee on the taxes that we鈥檙e required to collect and remit to the government and the gratuity that goes directly to our staff. That鈥檚 not just predatory 鈥� it鈥檚 a windfall for big banks at the expense of small businesses.
Restaurants and breweries in Colorado operate on razor-thin margins, and every dollar lost to excessive interchange fees is a dollar that could have been reinvested in hiring staff, expanding operations, or keeping prices low for customers.
HB25-1282 is a common-sense reform that will put more money back into Colorado鈥檚 small businesses and ensure that credit card companies aren鈥檛 profiting from our state鈥檚 tax system and the generosity of our patrons.
We鈥檙e grateful to the bill sponsors Reps. Max Brooks and William Lindstedt and Sens. Lindsey Daugherty and Barbara Kirkmeyer, as well as to our Weld County state Reps. Ryan Gonzalez and Carlos Barron for their support. We urge all lawmakers to stand with Colorado鈥檚 small businesses by passing HB25-1282. This bill will make a real difference for local restaurants, breweries, and the countless workers and families who depend on them. Let鈥檚 keep Colorado鈥檚 small businesses strong and thriving and keep our dollars local.
Neil Fisher is the owner of WeldWerks Brewing Co. in 欧美巨乳色情片. Matt Larson is the owner of The G.O.A.T. 欧美巨乳色情片 Bar in 欧美巨乳色情片.
