Credit, Debit Card “Swipe” Fees Hit Record $187.2 Billion

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 18, 2025) – Led by Visa and Mastercard once again, credit and debit card “swipe” fees reached another record last year, driving up consumer prices and further showing the need for Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.

“With no competition to hold them in check, price-fixed swipe fees rise every year and shot up again last year,” said MPC Executive Committee member Christine Pollack, vice president of government relations at FMI – The Food Industry Association. “As Main Street small businesses and American families continue to face economic uncertainty, the giant card networks and Wall Street banks continue to take more money out of their pockets every day. These fees contribute to inflation and siphon off money that could be used to hold down prices or invest in local communities. Momentum for swipe fee reform is rapidly growing in Congress, and constituents in every district are calling on lawmakers to stand up for Main Street over Wall Street.”

Swipe fees for credit cards and debit cards combined totaled $187.2 billion in 2024, up from $172 billion in 2023, according to the Nilson Report trade publication. That was up 70% since the pandemic.

Swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards – which dominate the industry with more than 80% of the credit card market – made up the majority of the total at $111.2 billion, up from $100 billion. That is an increase of more than 10% in one year alone and is nearly triple what the fees were in 2014 ($39.1 billion). In total, swipe fees on all credit cards totaled $148.5 billion in 2024, up from $136 billion in 2023.

Credit and debit card swipe fees 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, based on the new data.

The average swipe fee rate for Visa and Mastercard-branded credit cards rose to 2.35% of the transaction amount. The two card networks each centrally set swipe fee rates for all banks that issue cards under their brands, and the average rate is up from 2.26% in 2023 and 2.02% in 2010.

Debit card swipe fees totaled $38.7 billion, up from $36.3 billion in 2023.

The new numbers come as sponsors are preparing to reintroduce the CCCA. In addition to centrally setting swipe fees, Visa and Mastercard also restrict competition by blocking transactions from being processed over other networks that already do the job on debit transactions with lower fees and better security. The legislation would break up the duopoly by ensuring that banks with at least $100 billion in assets 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 was expected to save merchants and consumers over $16 billion a year based on 2023 numbers. The new savings based on 2024 data has not yet been calculated but will be higher. 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.

NSGA is a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition.