Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., blasted credit card companies Wednesday in a press conference hosted by 7-Eleven.

Unveiling the results of its summer petition drive, 7-Eleven advocated for credit card interchange fee legislation and touted the 1.66 million signatures it says it gathered from customers who want the same.

When Welch took the stage, he described the country's "two business models." In one, convenience store operators and "country store owners" profit from the "values of thrift, enterprise, and hard work." In the other, credit card companies use "use market power" to make others pay unreasonable fees.

Lofgren struck a similar chord, calling banks and financial institutions "greedy" and describing the battle to get Congress to pass interchange fee legislation, which would impact the amount convenience stores owe credit card companies when customers swipe their cards.

Lofgren said interchange efforts come in the face of considerable lobbying efforts by the financial industry.

Both members touted 7-Eleven's petitions as a message straight from the people--despite the fact that credit card companies say interchange fees are a business-to-business issue that has nothing to do with consumers.

"It's not the banks" who own the government, Lofgren said. "It's the people of this country, who signed these petitions."

(Photo above by Sara Jerome)

When Congress took up credit card legislation earlier this year, the issue of interchange fees were deliberately skirted. Now 7-Eleven hopes its grassroots effort will be a game changer.

They have reason to be optimistic. Welch said interchange fee legislation is gaining momentum in Congress, citing upcoming hearings on the issue.

"The current system is broken," Joe DePinto, 7-Eleven's president, argued. Credit card companies want to "defend the status quo."

Credit card reps, who were on hand at the event, questioned 7-Eleven's claim that this is "the largest public policy petition in history."

Trish Wexler, a spokesperson for the Electronic Payments Coalition, pointed to a Credit Union National Association and National Federal Credit Union Association campaign in 1996 which may have been larger. That campaign claimed to raise 2.4 million petition signatures.

In November, the Government Accountability Office, is schedule to publish a study on the impact of the interchange fees.