FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2026 — The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed a hearing on innovation in the payments market being held today by the House Financial Services Committee, but said innovation will not succeed if Visa, Mastercard and major banks are allowed to continue to dominate the market without competition.
“Unless Congress takes action, future innovation in payments will be stifled,” MPC said in a letter to the committee, citing industry efforts to undermine the development of stablecoins and other technology innovations as low-cost alternatives to the high processing fees of credit cards. “Visa and Mastercard are already working to coopt that technology and stifle it for would-be competitors. At the same time, major credit card-issuing banks are fighting to institute fees that will cripple the ability of financial technology offerings (including stablecoins) to operate efficiently for consumers. These coordinated efforts are calculated to prevent real competition in price and service.”
The letter cited Mastercard’s recent announcement that it would acquire BVNK, a leading stablecoin infrastructure firm, and fintechs blasting plans by JPMorgan Chase to charge for access to customer financial data needed to compete with banks to provide financial services.
The letter was signed by 26 Main Street business groups as the committee prepared to hold a hearing this morning on the “Future of Payments: Promoting Innovation and Fair Markets.” Scheduled witnesses include representatives of banks, a card processor, a cryptocurrency platform, a consumer group and a law firm but no Main Street organizations.
The letter said credit and debit card swipe fees that drive up consumer prices by between $1,200 and $1,800 a year for the average family are the result of Visa and Mastercard’s domination of the payments market. But Congress “has the opportunity to do something about this” by passing the Credit Card Competition Act, which would create competition over transaction processing and could pave the way for competition from innovations like stablecoins.
Without competition, “the credit card industry’s appetite for new and increased fees has proved insatiable,” the letter said, citing a $3 billion increase in Visa swipe fees that quietly took effect in April.
“Without action, the card companies will just increase the fees again and again,” the letter said. “And they will use all that revenue to lock up the market and block competitors. There simply cannot be meaningful innovation in payments when the market is unfairly dominated in violation of basic principles of antitrust law and competition. It is time for Congress to act to make Americans’ lives better. We urge the committee to bring some competition to the payment system before the monopolies of today entrench themselves as the monopolies of tomorrow and we lose the chance that technological advances may provide us to have real innovation.”
Beyond credit cards, the letter cited an investigation of Visa’s anticompetitive debit card practices conducted by the Department of Justice under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Credit and debit card swipe fees have increased 80% since the pandemic, reaching a record $198.25 billion last year. For most merchants, the fees are the highest operating cost after labor and too much to absorb.
Visa and Mastercard account for 80% of the credit card market, and each centrally sets swipe fee rates charged to merchants by banks that issue cards under their brands. They also block transactions from being processed over other networks that could do the job with lower fees and better security.
Under the CCCA, banks with at least $100 billion in assets would enable cards they issue to be processed over at least two unaffiliated networks — Visa or Mastercard plus a competitor like NYCE, Star or Shazam. The measure is expected to result in competition over fees, security and service that would save merchants and consumers $17 billion a year. President Donald Trump endorsed the CCCA in January, saying it is needed “to stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff.”
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.
