March 23, 2026
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Is Legislation the Answer on Visa, Mastercard Swipe Fees as ~$200 Billion Record Is Set?
Credit card and debit card swipe fees have reached a record high of $198.25 billion, per the Merchants Payment Coalition (MPC), signaling that merchants — and by extension, consumers — are on the hook for an ever-increasing bill attached to everyday transactions.
“Credit card swipe fees make just about everything Americans buy more expensive. Swipe fees set a new record by taking more of our money every year, and the impact on American families and small businesses is devastating,” said MPC executive committee member and National Association of Convenience stores General Counsel Doug Kantor.
“President Trump, lawmakers across the political spectrum, business groups, labor unions, consumer groups, Native American tribes and more are calling for bipartisan swipe fee reform. It’s time for Congress to make America affordable again by ending the swipe fee ripoff,” he added, as Progressive Grocer detailed.
The data breakdown was provided as follows:
- Visa and Mastercard swipe fees comprised the bulk of the overall total, registering at $118.8 billion last year — an increase from the $111.2 billion notched the year prior. Notably, that’s a significant 365% increase over the $25.6 billion calculated in 2009.
- Credit cards as a whole took an even larger share of the overall pie in 2025, coming in at $157.8 billion against $148.5 billion in 2024.
- Average swipe fee for Visa and Mastercard-branded credit cards, the biggest players in the market in excess of 80% of total share, increased from 2.35% in 2024 to 2.36% in 2025. That’s up from just over 2% (2.02%) in 2010.
- Debit card swipe fees amounted to approximately $40.5 billion, hiking upward from $38.7 billion in 2024.
Credit Card Competition Act Seeks To Mitigate Swipe Fees
Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) is being looked over by Congress, according to an MPC press release. The legislation was also endorsed by President Donald Trump, who did so in a Truth Social Post earlier this year referring to an “out of control swipe fee ripoff.”
The Credit Card Competition act targets banks with at least $100 billion in assets, requiring these to enable cards they issue to be processed over two non-affiliated networks — likely Visa or Mastercard in addition to competitors such as NYCE, Star, or Shazam — in the hopes that increased competition will break an alleged “duopoly.”
“Americans are struggling with everyday purchases like groceries and gas, and credit card swipe fees inflate those already exorbitant prices,” Durbin said of the proposed legislation in January, per Convenience Store News.
“By bringing real competition to credit card networks, which is currently dominated by the Visa-Mastercard duopoly, we can reduce swipe fees and hold down costs for Main Street merchants and their customers. Let’s pass the Credit Card Competition Act as soon as possible.”
BrainTrust
Nicholas Morine
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Discussion Questions
Is legislation the best way to deal with concerns around swipe fees, in your opinion? What other options could be considered?
Do Visa and Mastercard hold a “duopoly” in the credit card space? What, if anything, should be done?
What could merchants and/or consumers realistically do, should this bill fail to pass, to mitigate the impact of swipe fees?
Poll
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Legislation can be part of the solution on swipe fees, but it’s not the only—or necessarily the best—tool on its own. The National Retail Federation (NRF) has been very clear in its position that swipe fees function as a “hidden tax” on merchants and consumers, driven by a market in which Visa and Mastercard control over 80% of transactions and set largely non-negotiable fees. From that perspective, introducing more competition through legislation like the Credit Card Competition Act makes sense. However, legislation tends to be blunt and slow-moving, and there are legitimate concerns about unintended consequences—particularly around rewards programs and the broader payments ecosystem.
On the question of a “duopoly,” the data supports that characterization. The dominance of Visa and Mastercard—and the fact that fees have reached record levels approaching $200 billion annually—has fueled both retailer frustration and policy attention. Walmart’s actions reinforce this point. The company has been one of the most aggressive voices pushing back on the current system, even seeking to pursue independent legal action rather than accept broader settlements it viewed as insufficient. At the same time, Walmart has explored alternatives such as pay-by-bank and real-time payments, signaling that large merchants are not waiting solely on Washington—they are actively seeking market-based solutions to reduce reliance on traditional card networks.
If legislation stalls, there are still practical steps merchants and consumers can take. Retailers can promote lower-cost payment methods (ACH, debit, or emerging real-time payment options), invest in private-label or closed-loop payment ecosystems, and continue pushing for transparency and flexibility in how payments are routed. Consumers, in turn, can choose payment types more deliberately—though realistically, behavior change at scale is difficult. The broader takeaway is that this issue is unlikely to be solved by a single lever. Legislation may help introduce competition, but innovation and alternative payment models will likely play an equally important role in reshaping the economics of payments over time.
The underlying premise of this article seems to be “we” must “do” something, but of course that’s an arguable point. (And is it meaningful to note it’s a record without also noting the volume of transactions…which were also likely a record?)
Admittedly there isn’t a lot of choice for consumers with regard to the underlying processors, but those who are too traumatized by the situation always have the choice in hand to avoid them by using a debit card (or cash); so in that sense, they’ve quite a bit of power.
No. In fact, legislation is hardly ever the answer to many issues however that is a different topic. Many businesses are simply passing the fee on directly to the consumer on the invoice, which will either go unnoticed or eventually curtail spending, which will hit both the card companies and the retailers. And as these fees become more visible, consumers will (hopefully) make a decision regarding are the points on the card worth the higher fees or should we go back to cash, which many of us (including yours truly) do not carry any longer.
This is a non issue, one that the marketplace will eventually decide.
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Legislation can be part of the solution on swipe fees, but it’s not the only—or necessarily the best—tool on its own. The National Retail Federation (NRF) has been very clear in its position that swipe fees function as a “hidden tax” on merchants and consumers, driven by a market in which Visa and Mastercard control over 80% of transactions and set largely non-negotiable fees. From that perspective, introducing more competition through legislation like the Credit Card Competition Act makes sense. However, legislation tends to be blunt and slow-moving, and there are legitimate concerns about unintended consequences—particularly around rewards programs and the broader payments ecosystem.
On the question of a “duopoly,” the data supports that characterization. The dominance of Visa and Mastercard—and the fact that fees have reached record levels approaching $200 billion annually—has fueled both retailer frustration and policy attention. Walmart’s actions reinforce this point. The company has been one of the most aggressive voices pushing back on the current system, even seeking to pursue independent legal action rather than accept broader settlements it viewed as insufficient. At the same time, Walmart has explored alternatives such as pay-by-bank and real-time payments, signaling that large merchants are not waiting solely on Washington—they are actively seeking market-based solutions to reduce reliance on traditional card networks.
If legislation stalls, there are still practical steps merchants and consumers can take. Retailers can promote lower-cost payment methods (ACH, debit, or emerging real-time payment options), invest in private-label or closed-loop payment ecosystems, and continue pushing for transparency and flexibility in how payments are routed. Consumers, in turn, can choose payment types more deliberately—though realistically, behavior change at scale is difficult. The broader takeaway is that this issue is unlikely to be solved by a single lever. Legislation may help introduce competition, but innovation and alternative payment models will likely play an equally important role in reshaping the economics of payments over time.
The underlying premise of this article seems to be “we” must “do” something, but of course that’s an arguable point. (And is it meaningful to note it’s a record without also noting the volume of transactions…which were also likely a record?)
Admittedly there isn’t a lot of choice for consumers with regard to the underlying processors, but those who are too traumatized by the situation always have the choice in hand to avoid them by using a debit card (or cash); so in that sense, they’ve quite a bit of power.
No. In fact, legislation is hardly ever the answer to many issues however that is a different topic. Many businesses are simply passing the fee on directly to the consumer on the invoice, which will either go unnoticed or eventually curtail spending, which will hit both the card companies and the retailers. And as these fees become more visible, consumers will (hopefully) make a decision regarding are the points on the card worth the higher fees or should we go back to cash, which many of us (including yours truly) do not carry any longer.
This is a non issue, one that the marketplace will eventually decide.