MPC Hill Blast: ‘Extensive’ and ‘Punitive’ Credit Card Swipe Fee Increases

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‘Extensive’ and ‘Punitive’ Credit Card Swipe Fee Increases

The calendar has barely turned to 2026, and credit card swipe fees are increasing again. The credit card giants keep pretending otherwise, but year after year they dramatically increase swipe fees.

First, they automatically increase swipe fees by making them a percentage of purchase amounts. That way, fees go up with every dollar of inflation (and add a multiple to every dollar of inflation).

  • So, every time food and gas prices go up, the credit card companies win.
  • No wonder Visa likes to talk to investors on earnings calls about how inflation helps them:
    • Visa’s CEO: "Inflation has been positive for us." (Read it here.)
    • Visa’s CFO: "We're a beneficiary of inflation." (Read it here.)
       
  • Second, they regularly increase fees on top of the automatic increases:
    • They increased fees in April 2022.
    • They increased fees in October 2023.
    • They increased fees in January 2025.
    • From 2023 to 2024 alone, in fact, the average fee percentage multiplied by every Visa and Mastercard credit card purchase jumped from 2.26% to 2.35%

Visa increased fees again on Jan. 24.
 

    • “This unexpected escalation in cost exposure for merchants is extensive — and seemingly punitive in context of a change in the network’s honor all provisions.”
    • “The January 24th, 2026, effective date for the newly announced small business card rate adjustments — some of which are approaching an increase of approximately 75 basis points — raises concerns around timing and transparency.”
      • That’s right. Some rates are exploding by nearly 33% this month!

Were merchants given plenty of notice and time to adjust to these new swipe fee increases? Umm, no. ☹

    • “Communication to merchants has been limited and, in many cases, delayed.”
    • “The timing of these updates over the holiday period, combined with minimal proactive outreach, has resulted in many merchants becoming aware of the changes only after the fact, leaving little opportunity for advance assessment or planning.”

The dollar figures demonstrate how dramatic swipe fee increases have been.

  • Visa/MC total credit swipe fees in 2010 — $26 billion
  • Visa/MC total credit card swipe fees in 2024 — $111 billion (327% increase from 2010)

Keep this in mind the next time the credit card industry tells you they haven’t increased fees in years.

COMPETITION IS BETTER FOR EVERYONE

IT'S TIME TO PASS THE CREDIT CARD COMPETITION ACT