MPC Hill Blast: Debit Card Competition Helps Credit Unions, Credit Card Competition Could, Too
You recently may have heard from credit unions, but they probably didn’t talk about how much debit card competition has helped them.
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Mass Market Retailers: Swipe fees cost households $1,800 a year
“These numbers show just how broken the payments market really is,” said Jennifer Hatcher, MPC executive committee member and FMI chief public policy officer. “Swipe fees are an even larger burden on small businesses and consumers than we knew previously. They drive up the price of almost everything consumers buy.”
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Chain Drug Review: Credit and debit card ‘swipe’ fees tallied $236 billion in 2024
“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.”
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Credit and Debit Card ‘Swipe’ Fees Totaled $236 Billion in 2024, Over One-Quarter Higher than Previously Reported
MPC 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.
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AInvest: Stablecoins as a Disruptive Force in U.S. Credit Card Payments: Assessing the Threat and Opportunity for Investors
The Merchants Payments Coalition and allies have pushed for legislative reforms like the Credit Card Competition Act, which aims to introduce competition and reduce fees. However, progress has been slow, and the status quo remains: businesses passed $187.2 billion in costs to consumers in 2024 alone, directly fueling inflation.
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NerdWallet: What to Expect if the Credit Card Competition Act Passes
“Swipe fees are the second-highest operating cost, on average, for these businesses. Only labor is a higher cost,” says Doug Kantor, general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores (and MPC Executive Committee member). “A big piece of that is that the fees automatically rise with inflation. As we see inflation in the economy, merchants’ costs go up. Convenience store owners are left chasing their tails to try to maintain some profitability with these rapidly rising fees.”
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NerdWallet: Is Congress Going to Kill Credit Card Rewards?
“Swipe fees that drive up costs for small merchants and prices for American families are already the highest in the industrialized world," said Doug Kantor, an executive committee member of the Merchants Payments Coalition, in a June 2023 statement. "This carefully crafted bill will lead to lower fees and better security while helping merchants hold down prices."
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CardRates.com: How Issuers Can Adapt to The Emerging Threat of Stablecoins
The appeal of cheaper transactions is compelling: Credit and debit card swipe fees amounted to a record $187.2 billion in 2024, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition. If stablecoins offer a path to faster, more affordable settlement for merchants, that is very attractive indeed.
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CardRates.com: A Judge’s Debit Card Ruling May Shape Credit Card Issuer Strategies Moving Forward
The Merchant Payments Coalition represents businesses and other stakeholders that seek a card system that is more competitive and fair to both consumers and merchants. Doug Kantor, Executive Committee Member of the coalition and General Counsel for the National Association of Convenience Stores, called the ruling a “well-reasoned decision” in a press release from the Merchant Payments Coalition responding to Traynor’s action. “This case shows that banks have swiped a windfall of billions of dollars per year in debit fees from Main Street that go far beyond normal, competitive profit margins,” Kantor said. “The Federal Reserve should quickly rewrite its rules to cure this problem and reduce the inflationary pressure these fees impose on the entire U.S. economy.”
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Retail Insight Network: Trump’s order confronts banking policies affecting retail
The Merchants Payments Coalition, representing small retailers, supermarkets and convenience stores, commended the order for promoting unbiased banking access. Its members say that when banks restrict services—particularly in payment processing—it hampers innovation and inflates costs for retailers, especially smaller operations.
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