Credit and Debit Card Swipe Fees Reach New Record in 2024
Credit and debit card swipe fees reached a new high of $187.2 billion in 2024, further driving up prices for consumers, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC).
“With no competition to hold them in check, price-fixed swipe fees rise every year and shot up again last year,” said Christine Pollack, MPC executive committee member and VP of government relations at Arlington, Va.-based 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.”
Combined swipe fees for credit cards and debit cards rose more than $15 billion from $172 billion in 2023, per the Nilson Report trade publication. This also marked a 70% increase since the pandemic.
“These fees contribute to inflation and siphon off money that could be used to hold down prices or invest in local communities,” continued Pollack. “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.”
Fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards, which make up more than 80% of the credit card market, generated the majority of last year’s swipe fees, at $111.2 billion, up from $100 billion the previous year, according to MPC. This is an increase of more than 10% in one year and is nearly triple the $39.1 billion in swipe fees seen in 2014.
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In total, swipe fees on all credit cards totaled $148.5 billion in 2024, up from $136 billion the prior year. Debit card swipe fees reached $38.7 billion, up from $36.3 billion.
Additionally, the average swipe fee rate for Visa- and Mastercard-branded credit cards increased to 2.35% of the transaction amount, up from 2.26% in 2023 and 2.02% in 2010.
MPC continues to support the Credit Card Competition Act, which would require banks with at least $100 billion in assets to enable credit cards to be processed over at least one unaffiliated network like Star, NYCE or Shazam in addition to Visa or Mastercard. If signed into law, the measure is expected to result in competition over fees, security and service that would save merchants and their customers more than $16 billion a year.
Recently, MPC and the Payment Choice Coalition (PCC), which represents businesses that accept stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value), revealed that they are each joining the other’s group to promote their common goals of boosting innovation, competition and choice in U.S. payments.
Based in Washington, D.C., MPC represents retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores, gasoline stations, online merchants and others fighting for a more competitive and transparent card system that is fair to consumers and merchants.
This article was originally covered by sister publication Convenience Store News.
