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 "THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA IS BUSINESS"
When Calvin Coolidge said this in the 1920's, there was generally only one way for consumers to pay for goods and services - they reached into their pocket and produced sufficient legal tender to make the purchase. Back then, a consumer who attempted to argue that he didn't know that a "payment" was taking place would have found few, if any, to sympathize with his plight.
Fast forward 90 years, and the majority of purchases are made via credit/debit cards, with an ever-growing percentage of such sales taking place via the internet and telephone. The business of America is still business - it's just that business now travels at the speed of thought. Most of the time, this is to the benefit of consumers - remote purchases are convenient and bring consumers the goods and services they want in the quickest manner possible. At the same time, however, with marketing and commerce moving so quickly, some consumers find themselves surprised by "phantom" purchases that appear as if by magic on their credit/debit card statements.
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 Combining the ubiquity of credit and debit payments with internet and telephone sales has tilted the balance of power in commerce in favor of merchants at the expense of consumers. The role of the Marketing Compliance Association is to ensure that merchants maintain compliance with state and federal rules governing payment disclosures and marketing practices so as to maintain a fair balance between consumers and merchants. |
