Visa, Mastercard Agree to Lower Swipe Fees in Latest Proposed Settlement

Visa and Mastercard announced an agreement on Monday with merchants that would end a 20-year legal battle over swipe fees in which businesses claimed the credit card giants violated U.S. antitrust laws.

The settlement calls for Visa and Mastercard to lower swipe fees, which are added to each transaction, by 0.1 percent for the next five years. The fees are between 2 percent and 2.5 percent currently.

“The proposed settlement with U.S. merchants of all sizes would provide meaningful relief, more flexibility and options to control how they accept payments from customers,” Visa stated.

Neither company admitted to any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still has to be approved by the court.

The agreement also caps standard consumer rates at 1.25 percent for eight years and allows merchants to charge customers a surcharge to pay the swipe fees.

“The imaginary relief that this proposed settlement claims to offer is insulting to every one of us who ultimately foot the bill for higher credit card fees in the form of higher prices for gas, food, and other essentials,” Lyle Beckwith, NACS’s senior vice president of government relations, said in a statement.

The settlement would provide the credit card giants legal immunity for increasing fees and engaging in anti-competitive practices, according to NACS.

The current settlement offer is the third one proposed by the credit card industry, stemming from a 2025 class-action lawsuit that alleges the credit card giants—which control more than 80 percent of the credit card market—violated federal antitrust laws by price-fixing swipe fees.

Both prior settlements were rejected by the court.

NACS claimed Monday’s settlement is similar to a previous agreement offered in June 2024, which was rejected by U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie at the preliminary stage. The judge ruled it lacked sufficient merit to even consider through public comments, according to the organization.

“No one should be fooled by the credit card industry’s smoke and mirrors,” Beckwith said. “This proposed settlement endorses business as usual, including by letting Visa and Mastercard increase their own fees without any restraints.”

Beckwith added that the new settlement would allow the credit card companies to hike swipe fees for merchants and their customers.

“This proposed ‘settlement’ does nothing to stop their predatory and collusive behavior,” Beckwith said.

NACS encouraged members of Congress to support the Credit Card Competition Act, which the organization says would create choice for processing credit card transactions by requiring the largest U.S. banks to allow transactions to be processed over at least two unaffiliated card payment networks.

The legislation is supported by nearly 2,000 companies and 300 trade associations, along with consumer, labor, and pro-competition organizations, according to NACS.

Swipe fee revenues have jumped 70 percent since 2020 and reached a record $187.2 billion in 2024, according to the group.