FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, January 17, 2025 – As Congress focuses on huge profits in the credit card industry, record annual profits reported this week by the nation’s largest card issuer show the need for lawmakers to address soaring swipe fees charged to process transactions, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
“Members of Congress have made it clear that card industry profits are out of control and leave plenty of room to lower credit card swipe fees that drive up costs for small businesses and prices for American consumers,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith said. “Profits at card-issuing megabanks are huge and profits at Visa and Mastercard are astronomical. It’s time for Wall Street to learn to compete the same as Main Street businesses that struggle just to break even.”
“You’re making over 50% profit margin,” Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Visa and Mastercard executives at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in November. “You have over 80% of the market but you don’t want any more competition. I’m having a hard time finding that position defensible, let alone sympathetic. I mean, it’s unbelievable the amount of money you’re making. It’s unbelievable what you’re charging small businesses and consumers and yet your testimony is please, please, please, please, please we can’t possibly have any competition.”
JPMorgan Chase reported Wednesday that 2024 profits totaled a record high $54 billion, a 17.9% increase over 2023. JPMorgan is the largest U.S. issuer of Visa and Mastercard credit cards, with twice the dollar volume as No. 2 Citigroup. Citigroup reported 2024 net income of $12.7 billion, up 38% year over year, while Wells Fargo reported $19.7 billion, up 3.1%, and Bank of America reported $27.1 billion, up 2.3%.
High swipe fees, which have jumped 50% since the pandemic and hit a record $172 billion in 2023, contribute to enormous profits for the card industry. Based on their earnings reports, JPMorgan Chase had a net profit margin of 31.2% in 2024, Citigroup 15.7%, Wells Fargo 24% and Bank of America 26.6%. The numbers are even higher at Visa, which had profits of 55% as of October, and Mastercard, which had 45%.
The earnings reports come as Congress is considering the Credit Card Competition Act to address swipe fees, which are too much for small merchants to absorb and drive up prices by over $1,100 a year for the average family. The fees are rising largely because Visa and Mastercard each centrally set the swipe fee rates charged by all banks that issue cards under their brands and restrict processing to their own networks.
Under the bill, banks with at least $100 billion in assets would be required 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 over $16 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.
