Press Releases
May 04, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition today called on Congress to bring competition to the U.S. credit card market, saying decades of domination by Visa and Mastercard has shut out innovation and led to soaring “swipe” fees that are a burden for small businesses, drive up prices for consumers and contribute to inflation.
April 27, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed today’s announcement that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing next week on anticompetitive practices by the credit card industry that have led credit card “swipe” fees to more than double over the past decade and are driving up prices as consumers face near-record inflation.
April 15, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition today welcomed a letter from bipartisan members of the House and Senate asking Visa and Mastercard to withdraw credit card swipe fee increases set to take effect this month, and agreed that the increases would drive up prices paid by consumers already facing high inflation.
March 31, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition today asked the House Financial Services Committee to go beyond overdraft fees as it looks into bank fees “costing consumers billions,” saying credit and debit card swipe fees should be considered as well.
March 28, 2022
Hidden “swipe” fees charged by big banks and credit card networks to process transactions could cost the average consumer the equivalent of two dozen eggs this Easter and total hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
March 08, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition today called on Congress to investigate Visa and Mastercard’s anticompetitive dominance over the U.S. credit and debit card markets, citing President Biden’s call in his State of the Union address to fight inflation by increasing competition.
February 28, 2022
With fees set to rise in April, the Merchants Payments Coalition today announced an advertising campaign to educate Congress and other policymakers on high “swipe” fees credit card networks and big banks charge merchants to process transactions and the impact the fees have on consumers, small businesses and the U.S. economy.
February 17, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition renewed its call for U.S. officials to address credit card “swipe” fees following today’s announcement that Amazon has agreed to continue accepting Visa credit cards in the United Kingdom.
February 17, 2022
The Merchants Payments Coalition urged Congress to protect small businesses against rising credit card “swipe” fees as the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing today on ensuring that small and minority-owned businesses share in the nation’s economic recovery.
January 27, 2022
A new study by Visa shows the importance of bringing “swipe” fees charged to process credit and debit cards under control as consumers and small businesses move away from cash and the fees exacerbate record inflation in consumer prices, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.