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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Merchants Say Credit Card Competition Act Will Still Be Needed Following Capital One/Discover Merger
MPC said passage of the Credit Card Competition Act is still needed to bring competition to billions of dollars in soaring credit card “swipe” fees despite regulatory approval of Capital One’s plans to acquire Discover.
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Credit Card Companies Will Make Twice as Much on Easter Eggs as ‘Swipe’ Fees Cost Consumers Over $550 Million
Big banks and credit card networks will make twice as much on a dozen Easter eggs this year as the rising “swipe” fees they charge merchants to process transactions cost families celebrating the holiday more than $550 million, MPC said.
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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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MPC Hill Blast: The Profiteers
No matter what you think about tariffs, one thing is clear: the credit card industry will take its huge cut on every dollar of tariffs they can that make it into consumer prices and will create upward pressure on the prices of virtually everything Americans buy.
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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: Colorado House of Representatives Passes Swipe Fee Reform
Nationally, swipe fees continue to be one of the largest expenses for convenience retailers, and the numbers continue to climb. The Merchants Payments Coalition noted that swipe fees in 2024 totaled $187.2 billion across all of retail, a $15 billion increase over 2023.
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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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