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The National Retail Federation said a Federal Reserve proposal released today to lower the cap on debit card “swipe” fees is a welcome move but still leaves the fees significantly higher than banks’ cost to process the transactions.

Those celebrating the winter holidays expect to spend $875 on average on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items, according to the National Retail Federation’s latest consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

The National Retail Federation today sent a legal analysis and warning to Tiare Technology Inc. regarding its abusive patent litigation. Tiare has filed more than three dozen lawsuits against retailers and restaurants seeking nuisance settlements, including six additional lawsuits just in September, asserting patents that are plainly invalid under the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Circuit’s patent-eligibility decisions.

NRF urged the Federal Reserve to approve lowering its 21-cent cap on debit card “swipe” fees when the Board of Governors meets next week to consider proposed regulations on the issue.

Retail sales continued to grow in September even as consumers faced continuing economic pressures, NRF said.

American consumers could lose $31 billion in spending power if U.S. tariffs are raised on common household products like microwaves and T-shirts imported from China, according to a new report released today by the National Retail Federation.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major container ports has already hit its expected peak for the year and should gradually slow headed into the holiday season, according to the Global Port Tracker report from NRF and Hackett Associates.

The U.S. economy is continuing to grow even as labor disputes across the country and uncertainty created by Congress add to the ongoing challenges of inflation and high interest rates, NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said.

NRF welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s agreement to take up a lawsuit seeking to have the Federal Reserve lower its 12-year-old cap on “swipe” fees banks charge merchants to process debit card transactions. The justices accepted the case after appellate courts disagreed on whether the 2021 case was brought too late.

As incidents of retail crime continue to escalate throughout the country, retailers have seen a dramatic jump in financial losses associated with theft. When taken as a percentage of total retail sales in 2022, shrink accounted for $112.1 billion in losses, up from $93.9 billion* in 2021, according to the 2023 National Retail Security Survey released today by the National Retail Federation.