FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, September 9, 2025 — The Merchants Payments Coalition today highlighted a report by payments consulting firm CMSPI showing “swipe” fees big banks and card networks charge merchants to process credit and debit card transactions totaled over $236 billion last year, more than 25% higher than other estimates.
“These numbers show just how broken the payments market really is and that swipe fees are an even larger burden on small businesses and consumers than we knew previously,” MPC Executive Committee member and FMI — the Food Industry Association Chief Public Policy Officer Jennifer Hatcher said. “With Visa and Mastercard setting prices where all banks charge the same swipe fees, the impact of swipe fees keeps going up. These outrageous fees drive up the price of almost everything consumers buy, and addressing them has been identified as one clear action that can be taken to take costs out of the economy and pressure off of hardworking American families.”
The new State of the Industry Report from CMSPI shows credit and debit card swipe fees totaled $236.4 billion in 2024. That compares with $187.2 billion reported this spring by the Nilson Report, a trade publication that follows the card industry and is the most widely quoted source of data on swipe fees.
CMSPI said the swipe fee rate for Visa and Mastercard credit cards, which dominate the market, averaged 2.91% of the transaction amount last year, compared with 2.35% reported by Nilson. Swipe fees on those cards alone accounted for $122.3 billion of the CMSPI total, compared with $111.2 billion reported by Nilson. That compares with the 1.7% profit of the supermarket industry in 2024.
While Nilson does not specify what swipe fee components are included in its numbers, CMSPI said its figures include interchange, which is the largest portion and goes to card-issuing banks; network fees, which go to card networks like Visa or Mastercard; and processing fees, which go either to a merchant’s “acquirer” bank or a third-party processor.
CMSPI’s $236.4 billion figure for 2024 is up from $222.3 billion in 2023, when Nilson reported $172 billion, and $206 billion in 2022, when Nilson reported $160.7 billion. The $14 billion increase from 2023 to 2024 reported by CMSPI amounted to 6.3% and was double the rate of inflation last year.
CMSPI’s report was prepared in partnership with its Insights Advisory Council, a panel made up of representatives of major merchants.
Swipe fees are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor and have to be built into pricing. The total amount collected has more than doubled over the past decade and the fees drive up prices by nearly $1,800 a year for the average family based on the CMSPI numbers. That compares with nearly $1,200 based on the Nilson numbers.
The new data comes as Congress is considering the Credit Card Competition Act, which is aimed at reducing swipe fees. Visa and Mastercard currently price-fix swipe fees charged by banks that issue cards under their brands and also block transactions from being processed over other networks that could do the job with lower fees and better security. The legislation would require banks with at least $100 billion in assets to enable cards they issue to be processed over at least two unaffiliated networks – Visa or Mastercard plus a competitor like NYCE, Star or Shazam. That would make networks compete over fees, security and service and is expected to save merchants and their customers $17 billion a year.
About MPC
The Merchants Payments Coalition represents retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores, gasoline stations, online merchants, hotels and others fighting for a more competitive and transparent card system that is fair to consumers and merchants. Follow MPC on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn for the latest on swipe fees.
