Your local merchants are fed up with unfair swipe fees
Tell Congress to support the Credit Card Competition Act.
Every time a card is swiped, a Wall Street bank profits off small businesses and consumers. That’s because two companies control 80% of the current market, setting the fees charged by all banks that issue their cards, along with the terms for usage — forcing merchants to foot the bill. That means small businesses have no choice but to pay non-negotiable fees or incorporate the high swipe fees into the prices consumers pay.
Big banks are working to raise credit card swipe fees even higher, which will only make it more challenging for small businesses to expand, hire new employees, and lower prices at a time of high inflation. It’s time for Congress to act.
Relief from excessive and unfair credit card swipe fees cannot wait
- The average American family pays an extra $1,000 annually because of the rising cost of swipe fees, regardless of whether they even use a credit card.
- Credit card swipe fees are most retailers’ highest operating cost after labor — preventing them from investing in their businesses by hiring more staff, buying more inventory and competing on price.
- U.S. retailers and merchants pay the highest swipe fees in the world — $126.4 billion in swipe fees were paid by businesses for credit card transactions in 2022, a 20% increase from the previous year.
- 81% of consumers support federal legislation that would allow for greater competition to lower credit card fees for small businesses.
- 73% of Americans trust small businesses over big banks when it comes to advocating for policies that impact consumers.
- Just 21% of consumers believe that credit card companies are honest and trustworthy when they advocate before Congress on the fees they charge retailers to accept their cards.
See NRF’s full-page ad in Politico.
A fair solution
The bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act would infuse competition into the marketplace by simply requiring there be at least two competing processing networks enabled on each credit card. These reforms have the potential to save American businesses and consumers an estimated $15 billion per year.
Are you a small retailer that’s fed up with swipe fees?
Show your support for the Credit Card Competition Act by displaying our educational signage at your store. We have window clings for storefronts, easel signs to display at checkout and flyers to share with customers.
Sign up today to spread the word and advance swipe fee reform!
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