The Credit Card Fair Fee Act, which has been introduced by John Conyers, chairman of the committee, is the first attempt by US Congress to address credit card interchange fees and is the outcome of a hearing held last year by the House's anti-trust workforce.

In a statement to the committee, Conyers says the bill "seeks to give merchants a seat at the negotiating table to determine the fees assessed for every sale made by credit card".

Interchange fees currently comprise 90% of transaction fees charged to merchants. The percentage is set by the credit card companies - generally Visa or MasterCard - and averages 1.75% of the total purchase price. In 2006 Visa and MasterCard banks collected more than $36 billion in interchange fees last year, up 17% from 2005 and 117% since 2001. In 2007, the fees amounted to $42 billion.