MPC Hill Blast: ‘Banks Have Never Had It This Good’
For close observers, that headline from the American Banker is not a surprise. Anyone watching knows that banks being part of the two credit card groups structured as cartels by Visa and Mastercard is great for their bottom lines. Not only that, but they win with inflation because they charge a percentage-based fee for every credit card transaction.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Making it Rain: Credit Card Networks Cash In on $3 Billion Swipe Fee Hike
April showers are said to bring May flowers, but this year they also brought an estimated $3 billion cost increase to Main Street businesses through higher swipe fees. That was on top of the estimated unexpected $100 million increase in fees from Visa in January.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Big Bank CEOs Get Richer While Grocery, Gas, Electric Prices Go Up
As summer begins, Americans across the country are struggling with rising grocery prices, gas well above $4 per gallon and electric costs at all-time highs. Big bank CEOs, however, aren’t exactly feeling that pain. In fact, the American Banker just reported that “Seven of the largest banks in the nation — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Capital One Financial — significantly increased their CEOs' pay packages for 2025.”
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Lower Swipe Fees, Consumers Save
A new Harvard Business School working paper says "Lower interchange fees lead to increased sales and lower prices.”
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Fuel Price/Swipe Fee Tracker
Credit card swipe fees currently amount to 10.5 cents on the average gallon of gas and 13.3 cents on the average gallon of diesel, costing American consumers $60.9 million per day.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: $9.2 Billion
A new Harvard Business School paper says credit card swipe fees and rewards transfer $9.2 billion a year from low- and middle-income households to wealthier households.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Why Do Convenience Stores Care About High Credit Card Swipe Fees?
Credit card swipe fees are out of control. Total payment card swipe fees were $198 billion last year. The fees have increased by 80% since 2020. For all Main Street retailers, the fees are their second-highest operating cost on average. Is there a reason that convenience stores in particular care? Yes — annual data that has just been compiled for the year 2025 demonstrates this vividly.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Who Swiped the Peeps?
Everyone loves Peeps at Easter. You can even make dioramas out of them. But, once again this year, credit card swipe fees took a lot of the fun out of Peeps. The average family was hammered with $4.62 in swipe fees on Easter spending alone. That is three packs of eight Peeps — swiped right out from under our noses.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Fuel Price/Swipe Fee Tracker
Credit card swipe fees currently amount to 9.8 cents on the average gallon of gas and 13.3 cents on the average gallon of diesel, costing American consumers $58.2 million per day.
READ MORE +
MPC Hill Blast: Fuel Price/Swipe Fee Tracker
Credit card swipe fees currently amount to 9.5 cents on the average gallon of gas and 12.8 cents on the average gallon of diesel, costing American consumers $56.3 million per day.
READ MORE +