SCRANTON - Pennsylvania retailers called for swipe fee reform at a press conference on Wednesday, asking U.S. Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) to bring credit card swipe fees "under control," reports the Wilkes Barre Times-Leader.

Retail business leaders gathered at the Steamtown Mall and asked that Kanjorski to "stand up for local businesses, workers and consumers" by supporting debit card swipe fee reform during conference negotiations of the House and Senate financial services reform bill. The Senate version contains the Durbin Amendment; the House version does not address swipe fees. Kanjorski is a member of the panel tasked with resolving the differences between the two bills.

"According to statistics provided at Wednesday??s press conference, retailers say these fees have tripled nationally since 2001, while the actual costs to process similar electronic transactions have dropped. These hidden costs now add an average of 2 percent to the cost of every item purchased with credit and debit cards, the retailers claim," writes the newspaper.

Although he was not attending the press event, the newspaper writes that Kanjorski said from Washington that he will "seriously consider" the Durbin Amendment. "As I work to review this language, I will examine the impact that it could have on small businesses and retailers in Northeastern Pennsylvania as well as credit unions and banks that provide these cards," he said.

Dennis Curtin, Weis Markets director of public relations, told the newspaper: "If you??re a typical family, you might pay about $500 a month for groceries, but if you use plastic to pay your bill, that cost goes up about $10 even though you didn??t buy one extra item...These swipe fees cost our customers and our business $15 million in 2009 and will go even higher in 2010."

Grocery chain Weis Markets is headquartered in Sunbury, Pa., and operates 13 stores in Kanjorski??s district, along with stores throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia.