Press Release

Welch has championed bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act to protect small retailers and businesses WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) , a member of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust , Competition Policy , and Consumer Rights , this week received the National Retail Federation’s 2026 “Champion of Main Street” award for his leadership and work to ensure small businesses and retailers in Vermont and across the country get their fair share. The NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, with members including department stores, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, restaurants, grocery stores, multi-level marketing companies, and vendors. In his remarks, Senator Welch called on Congress to pass the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), which would prevent the credit card duopoly of Visa and Mastercard from charging American businesses higher fees than anywhere else in the world. Photo Credit: National Retail Federation Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, driving the U.S. economy and creating jobs in communities throughout the country. In Vermont, retail directly supports more than 66,000 jobs and contributes $9.2 billion in economic activity. Vermont boasts nearly 82,000 small businesses, which represent 99% of all businesses in the state, and employ over 62% of Vermont’s overall workforce—higher than the national average. Small businesses in Vermont also employ a diverse workforce, with 43.8% of small businesses in the state owned by women and 6% owned by veterans. Under the Credit Card Competition Act , the Federal Reserve would issue regulations that require banks with over $100 billion in assets to enable at least two unaffiliated credit card networks, one of which must be outside of the top two largest networks, to process transactions on credit cards the banks issue. This would empower small business owners to pick the network that best suits their needs and inject real competition into the credit card market—opening the door for new market entrants, encouraging innovation and enhanced security, and exerting competitive constraints on the Visa-Mastercard duopoly. It is estimated that the CCCA would save merchants and consumers over $16 billion each year. Senator Welch has led efforts to combat market consolidation in the retail industry and ensure Vermont’s small businesses get a fair shot at success. In addition to the CCCA , the Senator is a cosponsor of the Fair Competition for Small Business Act , which would help protect small retailers from monopolistic, big-box stores that make it difficult for smaller operations to succeed. ###