Dozens of 7-Eleven store owners, in a gambit to call attention to credit cards' swipe fees, gathered in Washington Wednesday to present Congress with 130 boxes containing nearly 1.7 million signatures in favor of lowering the fees.

The franchisees joined 7-Eleven Chief Executive Joe DePinto and House Democratic lawmakers on the U.S. Capitol grounds to argue the petition drive showed consumers were also frustrated with the fees, which have fueled a major spat between credit card companies and retailers.

"They too want Congress to take action to regulate these unfair fees, which are the highest in the industrialized world," DePinto said in a statement.

Banks and the credit card network operators Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard Inc. (MA) dismissed the event as a stunt, saying consumers were fooled into signing the petition.

"This petition is not what it appears to be. 7-Eleven used deceptive language to trick their customers into signing something they thought would save them money," a coalition of banks and card network operators said in a statement.

Interchange fees, or swipe fees, are levied on retailers every time a customer uses plastic to make a purchase. An important source of revenue for many banks, the fees are loathed by retailers. Set by Visa and MasterCard, they are paid to card issuers via the merchant's bank.

Retailers claim the fees, which average about 1.75% of the purchase price, are a hidden tax on consumers because merchants, squeezed by razor-thin profit margins, are forced to pass them on by raising prices. They also contend that Visa and MasterCard, which have a combined 80% share of the credit-card industry, use their market power to keep the fees high so they can expand their network of member banks.

"We've sat down with these guys before. It's not a discussion. It's not a fair negotiation," DePinto said Wednesday.

Visa, in a statement, said it has "always shown a willingness to collaborate with retailers to develop solutions that help them address bottom-line business objectives."

Banks contend the fees are a fair price for the increased sales retailers generate when consumers enjoy the convenience of credit cards. They also argue that legislation to limit the fees will only harm consumers, citing a MasterCard-funded study that showed annual credit card fees rose and rewards programs diminished when Australia limited swipe fees.

"When merchants no longer pay for the cost and the value of accepting cards, consumers end up footing the bill," MasterCard Global Head of Public Policy Shawn Miles said.

Interchange fees paid by merchants grew to $48 billion in 2008 from $16 billion in 2001, according to the retailers. 7-Eleven says its franchises paid $160 million in swipe fees last year. Navdeep Bassi, a franchise owner from Costa Mesa, Calif., who appeared at the rally, said he paid $28,000 - or more than a third of his take-home pay - in fees last year.

Proponents have pushed legislation in both the House and the Senate that aims to rein in the fees, but the proposals have failed to gain traction, partly due to lawmakers' reluctance to take sides in a business brawl.

Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., co-sponsors of legislation to crack down on the fees, attempted to cast the issue in a populist light.

"The banks and the financial institutions are greedy and they get away with it," Lofgren said, telling the crowd of 7-Eleven franchisees they are victims of that greed.

7-Eleven began the petition drive in June. On Wednesday, dozens of franchise owners began delivering 14,000 petition pads to more than 30 congressional offices. The company claims they contain the most signatures ever collected for a public policy issue on record.

Retailers capitalized on the public's recent anger toward banks and credit card issuers.

Collecting the signatures from his customers "was the easiest thing we've done because they hate the credit card companies," said Ali Ardabilizadeh, a 7-Eleven Political Action Committee member and franchisee from San Clemente, Calif.

-By Jessica Holzer, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9228; jessica.holzer@dowjones.com