FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678
craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2026 — The Merchants Payments Coalition praised the House and Senate reintroduction today of the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act, which would force giant credit card companies to compete for business rather than simply gouging Main Street and its customers with high credit card swipe fees.
The bill was reintroduced by Senators Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in the Senate, and by Representatives Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., in the House. The reintroduction came hours after President Trump urged its support on his Truth Social platform to combat what he called the “out of control Swipe Fee ripoff.”
“We applaud Senators Marshall and Durbin, and Representatives Gooden and Lofgren for their tireless work,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “Credit card swipe fees burden working Americans and Main Street by fanning the flames of inflation. The average family pays $1,200 more each year in higher prices because of the price-fixing of these fees. It’s time to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to bring fairness and competition to the broken credit card system.
The CCCA is supported by nearly 2,000 companies and nearly 300 trade associations, as well as a broad coalition of consumer, labor, and pro-competition organizations.
The legislation represents an effort to inject competition into the credit card processing market. It would require large banks to enable at least two unaffiliated payment networks on credit cards, a move that would curb the dominance of Visa and Mastercard and lower the fees paid by merchants. Swipe fees are the highest cost to merchants after labor and are too high for most merchants to absorb, so consumers end up paying the price.
Visa and Mastercard — which control 80% of the market — each centrally set the 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.
Banks would choose which networks to enable, but merchants would then choose which to use, resulting in competition over fees, security, and service that is expected to save merchants and consumers $17 billion a year. Rewards would not be affected, security would be improved, consumers would still use the same cards, and community banks and all but one credit union would be exempt.
About MPC
The Merchants Payments Coalition represents retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores, gasoline stations, online merchants, 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.