• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
Credit Card Companies Are Fighting To Keep Their Monopoly And High Fees

Credit Card Companies Are Fighting To Keep Their Monopoly And High Fees

December 2, 2024
REPORT: Brennan And Comey Under Criminal Investigation Over Trump-Russia Probe

REPORT: Brennan And Comey Under Criminal Investigation Over Trump-Russia Probe

July 8, 2025
WILLIAM FLAIG: We’re Suing Airbnb Because Woke Corporations Can’t Keep Silencing Conservative Voices And Shareholders

WILLIAM FLAIG: We’re Suing Airbnb Because Woke Corporations Can’t Keep Silencing Conservative Voices And Shareholders

July 8, 2025
‘Experts’ Warned Free Markets Would Ruin Argentina — Looks Like They Were Dead Wrong

‘Experts’ Warned Free Markets Would Ruin Argentina — Looks Like They Were Dead Wrong

July 8, 2025
Can Trump Broker Lasting Peace In Gaza?

Can Trump Broker Lasting Peace In Gaza?

July 8, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: Poll Shows Dem Primary Slugfest Brewing For Senate Seat GOP Seeks To Flip

EXCLUSIVE: Poll Shows Dem Primary Slugfest Brewing For Senate Seat GOP Seeks To Flip

July 8, 2025
Garbage Mountains Bury Birthplace Of America As Union Demands Wage Hike

Garbage Mountains Bury Birthplace Of America As Union Demands Wage Hike

July 8, 2025
Eric Adams Dismantles ‘Intellectual Elitist’ Zohran Mamdani’s Socialist Platform As He Struggles In The Polls

Eric Adams Dismantles ‘Intellectual Elitist’ Zohran Mamdani’s Socialist Platform As He Struggles In The Polls

July 8, 2025
Feds Say ‘Prolific’ State-Backed Chinese Hacker Finally In Their Clutches

Feds Say ‘Prolific’ State-Backed Chinese Hacker Finally In Their Clutches

July 8, 2025
SHANKER A. SINGHAM And JAMES CARTER: Stay The Trump Course On Trade Deals

SHANKER A. SINGHAM And JAMES CARTER: Stay The Trump Course On Trade Deals

July 8, 2025
Ketanji Brown Jackson Loses Even Other Liberal Justices In Latest Effort To Back Lower Court Power Grab

Ketanji Brown Jackson Loses Even Other Liberal Justices In Latest Effort To Back Lower Court Power Grab

July 8, 2025
Skyrocketing Crime Prompts Trump To Eye Federal Takeover Of DC

Skyrocketing Crime Prompts Trump To Eye Federal Takeover Of DC

July 8, 2025
Supreme Court Gives Trump Greenlight To Axe Federal Bureaucrats

Supreme Court Gives Trump Greenlight To Axe Federal Bureaucrats

July 8, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Credit Card Companies Are Fighting To Keep Their Monopoly And High Fees

by Daily Caller News Foundation
December 2, 2024 at 6:01 pm
in News, Wire
242 10
0
Credit Card Companies Are Fighting To Keep Their Monopoly And High Fees
491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Daily Caller News Foundation

A handful of credit card companies are stifling competition and financially straining small businesses with high interchange fees while providing little explanation as to why swipe fee prices have increased, according to The New York Times (NYT).

Fees incurred by businesses every time a customer uses a credit card to make a purchase are called “swipe fees” — and they are crippling small businesses and passing high costs onto consumers, according to business owners who spoke with the NYT. Two companies, Mastercard and Visa, have a near-monopoly on this process, as the credit card companies together control more than 80% of the market for card purchases, NYT reported.

So-called swipe fees on credit cards have become burdensome for some small business owners as fewer customers now carry cash. U.S. merchants paid a total of $172 billion in processing fees for goods and services they sold in 2023, up from $160.66 billion in 2022, according to the Nilson Report. Small businesses employ roughly 46% of American workers, or about 59 million people, and account for 43.5% of the U.S.’s gross domestic product, according to the Office of Advocacy.

“There is no room to pay more — we’re just operating so thin,” Patti Riordan, who owns a hobby shop in Lancaster, Ohio, told the NYT.

Debit and credit card fees are some of the top monthly expenses for many small businesses, the NYT reported. Swipe fees are “the 2%–3% that credit card companies charge retailers every time a customer swipes their credit card to make a purchase,”the National Association Of Convenience Stores (NACS) explained.

Fees applied to premium reward cards are “substantially higher” for retailers, the NYT reported; credit card companies claim the fees collected are used to invest in security such as fraud protections.

“It’s very expensive to issue a product and to provide payment guarantee and online customer service, zero liability. All of those things, and many more, senator, get factored into interchange [fees],” Bill Sheedy, a senior advisor to Visa CEO Ryan McInerney, previously claimed.

Visa and Mastercard agreed to cap fees they charge businesses that accept their credit cards as part of a class-action settlement in March, but a judge rejected the settlement in June, according to the NYT.

Some merchants have called on Congress to pass legislation to promote a more competitive credit card marketplace, the NYT reported. A group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill in June 2023 called the Credit Card Competition Act, which aimed to “enhance competition and choice” in the credit card network market, according to a press release. The Department of Justice also filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa in September, accusing the credit card company of using its market power to stifle competition and charge high fees, according to the NYT. The Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Visa and Mastercard over high credit card swipe fees at a November hearing, CNBC reported.

“This concern is not going to go away,” Susan Stephan, a professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law who specializes in antitrust law, told the NYT. “Consumers are really concerned about rising costs in every arena, and this is one where there’s actually the potential for legislation to make a difference.”

Both small businesses and consumers in the U.S. have been grappling with high prices under the Biden-Harris administration. As inflation worsens and results in more card usage, swipe fees also worsen, according to NACS.

The small business uncertainty index, which measures the outlook of how uncertain small business owners are about the future of the economy, rose seven points to 110 in October, the highest reading ever recorded, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on small businesses across the country, many of which are still struggling financially from the long term effects of closure.

Visa and Mastercard both did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Tags: businessDCNFU.S. News
Share196Tweet123
Daily Caller News Foundation

Daily Caller News Foundation

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th