FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, August 5, 2026 — The Merchants Payments Coalition today backed Senator Dick Durbin’s new call for action on rising credit card swipe fees, which he said are hidden from consumers who ultimately pay higher prices because of them.
“Our hearing is about information being gathered and consumers paying a higher price because of it,” Durbin said while questioning a former Visa executive Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the use of artificial intelligence in “surveillance” pricing. “I think the same thing applies when it comes to Visa and Mastercard. I think there ought to be disclosure to the consumer about what you (Visa and Mastercard) are charging.”
Despite years of debate over swipe fees, “The consumer still doesn’t know how much that is, yet that fee continues to be charged,” Durbin said.
“Most retailers will tell you it’s a big piece of their profit. Is that fair?” Durbin said of swipe fees, adding that Visa and Mastercard refuse to negotiate with merchants. “There’s no negotiation. Take it or leave it, Mr. retailer.”
Durbin is the lead Democratic Senate sponsor of the Credit Card Competition Act and issued a statement after the hearing saying passage of the bill is needed to “crack down on swipe fees.” His call for action came one day after President Donald Trump said for the second time this year that the bill is needed to “to stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff!”
Credit card swipe fees range between 2% and 4% of the transaction but card industry rules and practices have long kept the fees from being disclosed on receipts or customers’ monthly statements. Credit card and debit card swipe fees hit a record $198.25 billion in 2025 and are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor, driving up prices by more than $1,200 a year for the average family.
“Senator Durbin asked whether these high fees are fair and the answer is a resounding no,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “They’re not fair to small businesses and most of all they’re not fair to consumers, who pay more because these fees are too much for merchants to absorb and drive up prices. It’s easy to get away with high fees when people don’t know about the fees. It’s time to bring fairness and competition to a payments market that currently has little of either.”
Swipe fees are rising because of lack of competition — Visa and Mastercard, which control 80% of the market, each centrally set the swipe fee rates charged by all banks that issue cards under their brands and restrict processing to their own networks. The CCCA would address that by requiring banks with at least $100 billion in assets to 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 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.
