7-Eleven Merchants Persuade Hill to Regulate Gouging on Card Swipe Fees

A 7-Eleven franchisee from California, Navdeep Bassi, went up to Capitol Hill in June to oppose credit card swipe fees that were gouging his convenience store. The fees have more than doubled since 2003.

Bassi convinced 6,000 people to sign on in the store where he works most often. His four stores combined collected 11,000 signatures. – 7-Eleven Merchants Descend on Hill, HuffPo

The U.S. office of his franchisor understood the importance of lobbying. It helped fund Bassi's trip to Washington D.C..

The results? A few days later Capitol Hill, via Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and key House negotiators, struck a deal to regulate bank and credit card swipe fees.

for the first time, banks and credit card companies will face restrictions on the fees they can charge merchants for the privilege of accepting credit and debit cards. – Merchants Beat Wall Street, HuffPo

The Huffington Post provides a summary (pdf) of the deal.