FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
Amount Per Family Equals 18 Pieces of Candy; a ‘Nightmare on Every Street’
WASHINGTON, September 22, 2025 — “Swipe” fees banks charge merchants to process credit card transactions will drive up the price of Halloween items by more than $300 million this year, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
“While kids are hoping for treats, Visa and Mastercard are playing their usual tricks on American parents,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Retail Federation Senior Director of Government Relations Dylan Jeon said. “The megabanks and global card networks drive up prices for virtually everything we buy for Halloween. It’s time to make the monopolists play by the rules by passing the Credit Card Competition Act. The card industry needs to compete over swipe fees like small businesses compete every day or the whole year will continue to be a nightmare on every street.”
Averaging 2.35% of the transaction but ranging as high as 4%, swipe fees are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor and have to be built into pricing. With few consumers using cash and credit card rules making discounts difficult, all shoppers pay more because of swipe fees regardless of how they pay.
Families are expected to spend an average of $114.45 on Halloween this year for a total of $13.1 billion, according to NRF. While a precise amount is difficult to calculate, MPC estimates that swipe fees account for about $2.70 of the average amount — equal to 18 pieces of candy from a 65-piece $10 bag — and $307.6 million of the total.
The fees amount to about 15 cents on an average $6 pumpkin, 25 cents on a $10 bag of candy and 35 cents on a $15 child’s costume and add up quickly. Consumers will spend a projected $4.3 billion on costumes (including $101.1 million in swipe fees), $4.2 billion on decorations ($98.7 million in swipe fees), $3.9 billion on candy ($91.7 million in swipe fees) and $700 million on greeting cards ($16.5 million in swipe fees).
Swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards alone have more than quadrupled since 2010 to $111.2 billion last year. Total credit and debit card swipe fees hit a record $187.2 billion, driving up prices by nearly $1,200 a year for the average family.
The impact on Halloween spending comes as Congress is considering the Credit Card Competition Act to address swipe fees, which are too much for small merchants to absorb and drive up prices by nearly $1,200 a year for the average family. The fees are rising largely because Visa and Mastercard each centrally set the swipe fee rates charged by all banks that issue cards under their brands and restrict processing to their own networks.
Under the bill, banks with at least $100 billion in assets would enable credit cards to be processed over at least one unaffiliated network like Star, NYCE or Shazam in addition to Visa or Mastercard. The measure is expected to result in competition over fees, security and service that would 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.
