Card brands postpone fee hike, but merchants want interchange reform

March 16, 2021

The major card networks have postponed a planned interchange fee hike yet again in light of the reality of an ongoing pandemic, pleas from merchant groups and pressure from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. But while this one-year delay provides immediate relief, it doesn’t address the long-term concerns critics have raised over how much power the card networks have in setting merchants’ costs.