FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, May 20, 2025 – The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed today’s move toward a Senate vote on the Credit Card Competition Act amid growing support of efforts to reduce “swipe” fees that drive up costs for small businesses and prices for consumers by billions of dollars a year.
“It is time for Congress to deal with the hidden credit card fees driving up the prices of nearly everything we buy,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “Credit card companies are now even putting swipe fees on top of tariffs and pushing up prices even more. Congress needs to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to give Main Street and their customers a fighting chance against out-of-control fees.”
Lead sponsors Senators Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., today announced that they have filed an amendment to make the CCCA part of the GENIUS Act, legislation expected to be considered soon on the Senate floor that would establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
The move comes as support for swipe fee reform is growing at the highest levels in Washington. JD Vance, who said small businesses “are being crushed by these credit card transactions fees” when announcing his co-sponsorship of the bill as a senator in 2023, is now vice president. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called Visa and Mastercard practices “collusive monopoly behavior” as Durbin chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in November where co-sponsor Senator Peter Welch, D-Vt., told executives from the two companies, “You are killing small business in the U.S.” At the same hearing, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said, “You’re having a hard time convincing me that the fees here are set to the advantage of the consumer.” And Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said “small businesses have a legitimate concern” and “if you don’t figure that out … you’re going to get Durbin-Marshall.”
The CCCA is supported by almost 2,000 companies and nearly 300 trade associations as well as a broad group of consumer, labor and pro-competition organizations.
Credit and debit card swipe fees – which have risen 70% since the pandemic and reached a record $187.2 billion in 2024 – 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. Swipe fees paid in each state and the amount that would be saved under the CCCA are available here.
Visa and Mastercard – which control 80% of the market – each centrally set the swipe fees charged by banks that issue cards under their brands, and also block transactions from being processed over other networks that could do the job with lower fees and better security. The legislation would require banks with at least $100 billion in assets to enable cards they issue to be processed over at least two unaffiliated networks – Visa or Mastercard plus a competitor like NYCE, Star or Shazam.
Banks would choose which networks to enable but merchants would then choose which to use, resulting in competition over fees, security and service that is expected to save merchants and consumers $17 billion a year. Rewards would not be affected, security would be improved, consumers would still use the same cards, and community banks and all but one credit union would be exempt.
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.
