FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, March 18, 2026 — Credit and debit card “swipe” fees that big banks and global card networks charge merchants to process transactions have reached a new record of $198.25 billion amid calls by President Donald Trump and others to bring the “out of control Swipe Fee ripoff” under control, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
“Credit card swipe fees make just about everything Americans buy more expensive,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “Swipe fees set a new record by taking more of our money every year and the impact on American families and small businesses is devastating. President Trump, lawmakers across the political spectrum, business groups, labor unions, consumer groups, Native American tribes and more are calling for bipartisan swipe fee reform. It’s time for Congress to make America affordable again by ending the swipe fee ripoff.”
Swipe fees for credit cards and debit cards combined totaled $198.25 billion in 2025, up from $187.2 billion in 2024, according to the Nilson Report trade publication. That was up 5.9% in one year and up 80% since the pandemic. Swipe fees have grown 219%% since MPC began tracking them in 2009, when the total was $62.1 billion.
Swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards again made up the majority of the total at $118.8 billion in 2025, up from $111.2 billion in 2024. That was up 365% from $25.6 billion in 2009.
Swipe fees for all brands of credit cards, including Visa and Mastercard, totaled $157.8 billion, up from $148.5 billion in 2024.
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 more than $1,200 a year for the average family, based on the new data.
The average swipe fee rate for Visa and Mastercard-branded credit cards rose to 2.36% of the transaction amount, up from 2.35% in 2024. The two card networks, which control over 80% of the market, each centrally set swipe fee rates for all banks that issue cards under their brands, and the average rate has risen from 2.02% in 2010.
Debit card swipe fees totaled $40.5 billion, up from $38.7 billion in 2024.
The new numbers come as Congress is considering the Credit Card Competition Act, which was endorsed by Trump earlier this year to “stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff.” The lead sponsors of the bipartisan legislation are Senators Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and the measure has the support of almost 2,000 companies as well as a broad group of consumer, labor and pro-competition organizations. In January, nearly 350 merchant groups sent lawmakers a letter calling for passage, and consumer, antimonopoly and small business groups did the same.
In addition to centrally setting swipe fees, Visa and Mastercard also block competition by restricting processing to their own two 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 $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.
