Swipe fees making it harder for retailers during the pandemic

Visa and Mastercard are planning to raise interaction (AKA swipe fees) for some credit card purchases. Merchants paid $18.1 billion in interchange fees last year, up 13 percent year-over-year, according to the Nielson Report. The fees charged by the card issuers have long been a source of dispute with retailers who claim that the high price of conducting transactions, particularly online, is cutting into what little profits they already make.