On the cost question, the very purpose of the code is to bring fairness to merchants to be able to control their costs and increase competition in the marketplace. It requires networks and all those involved in providing services to merchants to clearly disclose the costs of those services. It allows merchants to cancel contracts--if they sign up, and then suddenly three months later the rates go way up. It allows them to discount to encourage consumers to use lower-cost payment methods. There is a whole range of elements in that code that really seek to empower merchants in their relationships vis-à-vis some of these networks. So it's a great first step in dealing with some of these issues we've heard a lot about from merchants.
On April 29th, 2010. See this statement in context.