FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
Amount Per Family Equals 18 Pieces of Candy; Time to ‘Drive a Stake’ Through Fees
WASHINGTON, October 19, 2026 — The rising “swipe” fees banks charge merchants to process credit card transactions will drive up the cost of Halloween spending by nearly $320 million this year, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
“Swipe fees are the real monsters of Halloween, and they don’t need a costume to scare American families,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “The card industry is like a vampire, quietly draining a little from every family and kid who just wants to enjoy the holiday. Congress has the chance to drive a stake through the heart of these out-of-control fees by passing the Credit Card Competition Act. If Congress doesn’t bring real competition to the card system, families will keep getting haunted by swipe fees long after the last trick-or-treater has gone home.”
Averaging 2.36% of the transaction but ranging as high as 4%, swipe fees are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor and have to be built into pricing. With few consumers using cash and credit card rules making discounts difficult, all shoppers pay more because of swipe fees regardless of how they pay.
Families are expected to spend an average of $115.14 on Halloween this year for a total of $13.5 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. While a precise amount is difficult to calculate, MPC estimates that swipe fees account for about $2.72 of the average amount — equal to 18 pieces of candy from a 65-piece $10 bag — and $318.6 million of the total.
Consumers will spend a projected $4.4 billion on costumes (including $103.8 million in swipe fees), $4.3 billion on decorations ($101.5 million in swipe fees), $4.1 billion on candy ($96.8 million in swipe fees) and $800 million on greeting cards ($18.9 million in swipe fees).
Swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards alone have more than quadrupled since 2010 to $118.8 billion last year. Total credit and debit card swipe fees hit a record $198.25 billion, driving up prices by more than $1,200 a year for the average family.
The impact on Halloween spending comes as Congress is considering the Credit Card Competition Act to address swipe fees. 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 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, hotels 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.
