American Express is receiving some heat from a group called Main Street Alliance that says the card company's "Small Business Saturday" is hypocritical in its values.
Small Business Saturday is the Saturday after Black Friday, a day when consumers are encouraged to shop with local small businesses. American Express began this program in 2010 along with partners like the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and numerous local chambers of commerce.
Main Street Alliance supports that idea, as long as credit cards are not involved.
Main Street Alliance wants consumers to support small businesses without paying with credit cards since retailers will then not have to pay the interchange fees to the banks and credit card companies. Rather than losing 3% per transaction for credit card processing to companies like American Express, the merchants can keep that money for themselves and their businesses.
In response to the accusations, American Express said in a statement, "Small Business Saturday is about driving business to small business regardless of payment method--a stance we've communicated since its inception three years ago. Last year American Express paid 31% in taxes, meeting all of our obligations to the taxing authorities of the various countries and states in which we do business."