WASHINGTON—The Merchants Payments Coalition is once again stressing the need for Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act, citing 2024’s “record year” credit and debit card “swipe” fees.
“With no competition to hold them in check, price-fixed swipe fees rise every year and shot up again last year,” said MPC Executive Committee member Christine Pollack, vice president of government relations at FMI – The Food Industry Association, in a statement. “As Main Street small businesses and American families continue to face economic uncertainty, the giant card networks and Wall Street banks continue to take more money out of their pockets every day. These fees contribute to inflation and siphon off money that could be used to hold down prices or invest in local communities. Momentum for swipe fee reform is rapidly growing in Congress, and constituents in every district are calling on lawmakers to stand up for Main Street over Wall Street.”
Swipe fees for credit cards and debit cards combined totaled $187.2 billion in 2024, up from $172 billion in 2023, according to the Nilson Report trade publication. That was up 70% since the pandemic, MPC said.
Swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards – which account for more than 80% of the credit card market – made up the majority of the total at $111.2 billion, up from $100 billion.
“That is an increase of more than 10% in one year alone and is nearly triple what the fees were in 2014 ($39.1 billion). In total, swipe fees on all credit cards totaled $148.5 billion in 2024, up from $136 billion in 2023,” MPC said.
“Credit and debit card swipe fees are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor. The fees are far too high to absorb, especially for small merchants, and drive up consumer prices by nearly $1,200 a year for the average family, based on the new data,” MPC said.
The average swipe fee rate for Visa and Mastercard-branded credit cards rose to 2.35% of the transaction amount MPC added.