Credit card swipe fee act could save billions

WASHINGTON (WAND) — Efforts to lower credit/debit card swipe fees are growing as businesses and labor back the Credit Card Competition Act sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-IL).

Swipe, or interchange, fees are imposed on transactions when credit and debit cards are used and total about two-to-three percent of a total transaction. VISA and Mastercard control most of the credit card processing business. So, Senator Durbin’s bill looks to give businesses more alternatives in having their card business processed.

“In 2022 alone U.S. merchants and consumers paid $93.2 billion in credit card interchange fees to line the pockets of the biggest banks on Wall Street,” Senator Durbin stated recently on the Senate floor. “My bill is estimated to save merchants, retailers, business and consumers $15 billion every year.”