The Well News: The Road to Innovation and Prosperity
Op-ed by MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor and PDX Advisors CEO Shane Rodgers says the Credit Card Competition Act, the GENIUS Act and the STABLE Act "would work together to open the current market to competition and lay the regulatory groundwork we need for the new market to take flight."
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Open Banker: Don’t Let the Banking Borgs Fool You
Op-ed by MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor says "resistance isn’t futile" despite banks' opposition to swipe fee reform and urges "Resist away with full confidence that limiting the banks’ abuses on debit, credit, fees and the like won’t harm consumers. Don’t buy the bank lobby nonsense."
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Senate Banking Committee: Ahead of Historic Senate Vote, Key Stakeholders Voice Support for GENIUS Act
“The U.S. payments system desperately needs innovation, and a sound regulatory framework for stablecoins is one key step in achieving that,” said Chris Jones, Merchants Payments Coalition Executive Committee Member and Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Counsel, National Grocers Association. “For too long the dominant payments industry players have used their positions to stop innovation and competition. The GENIUS Act is a good step on the road to positive change.”
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Payments Dive: Durbin to keep pushing card bill
Durbin is waiting for the right moment, says Doug Kantor, who serves as general counsel for the National Association of Convenience stores and who has been a major proponent of the proposal since it landed in 2022. Durbin’s camp is keeping an eye out for a larger bill that would be a suitable vehicle for carrying the legislation across the finish line, Kantor said in an interview last week. The lack of movement this year has probably been a result of the chambers being preoccupied with other major issues like the budget, he said. The Merchants Payments Coalition, which includes the National Retail Federation and the National Restaurant Association, among others, has also encouraged the legislation. “There is a broad and growing recognition that the credit card companies don’t do business the right way, and this bill may be one piece of addressing that,” Kantor said.
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Mass Market Retailers: Merchants report Credit Card Competition Act will still be needed following Capital One/Discover Merger
“Visa and Mastercard dominate the credit card market and the Capital One-Discover merger won’t change anything about that,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “With Visa and Mastercard controlling more than 80% of the market and price-fixing swipe fees on behalf of each of their banks, there is no competition on swipe fees merchants are charged. Discover is only 3.5% of the credit card network market now and Capital One-Discover combined will only be 3.5% of the credit card network market after the merger is done. Nothing there helps at all with the swipe fee problem.”
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Cutting Edge Products: Credit Card Companies Will Make Twice as Much on Easter Eggs as ‘Swipe’ Fees Cost Consumers Over $550 Million
“Soaring credit card swipe fees are one of the factors that keep pressing egg prices higher and are bad news for struggling families,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Senior Director of Government Relations Dylan Jeon said. “This is a perfect example of how card companies benefit from inflation and how swipe fees act as a multiplier for inflation."
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Digital Transactions: Has the Time Come for Stablecoins?
A leading merchant association and a group representing stablecoin interests have thrown their weight behind efforts to bring stablecoins into the U.S. payments mainstream. The move by the Merchant Payments Coalition and the Payment Choice Coalition seeks to “promote their shared goals of enhancing innovation, competition, and choice in U.S. payments,” the two groups said in a statement released last month.
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MxM News: Credit, debit card fees reach all-time high of $187.2 billion
The Merchants Payments Coalition is sounding the alarm after swipe fees for credit and debit card purchases hit a record-breaking $187.2 billion in 2024. In a press release, the group called for Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act, calling the rise in fees “price-fixed” and unsustainable for both small businesses and working families.
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CNBC: Is it worth paying credit card surcharges to earn rewards?
A credit card surcharge is an additional fee businesses charge on purchases made with credit cards. This helps offset the swipe fees credit networks charge businesses for both credit and debit card transactions. These fees average just over 2%, sometimes up to 4% of your purchase, and according to a March 2025 study from the Merchant Payments Coalition, the combined total of credit and debit card swipe fees rose to a record high of $187.2 billion in 2024, an almost 9% increase from the year before, and 70% higher than during the pandemic.
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NACS Daily: Swipe Fees Hit Record High in 2024
“As sure as the sun rises in the east, swipe fees go up each year and the credit card industry tells Congress not to believe their own eyes,” said Doug Kantor, NACS general counsel (and MPC Executive Committee member). “But even the Wall Street giants with all their money can’t cover up the truth forever. The credit card market is broken and the 70% national increase in swipe fees since the pandemic is just one more thing showing what any casual observer knows – the credit card market desperately needs reform to stop the financial pain for Main Street America and its customers.”
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