04/11/2024

Visa, Mastercard Reach Historic Swipe Fees Settlement

The agreement was reached on March 26, 2024

The two biggest card networks in the United States – Visa and Mastercard – have agreed to cap interchange fees for five years, among other terms, to settle merchant litigation that lasted almost 20 years, according to Payments Dive. The agreement was reached on March 26, 2024.

The suit was brought by merchants over card “swipe fees” – also known as interchange fees, which refers to the hidden cost paid by merchants to card-issuing banks and credit card companies for processing credit card and debit card transactions. The case focused on merchants arguing that the banks and networks worked to inflate those fees as well as prohibit merchants from steering customers toward payment alternatives.

Some of the biggest retailers in the U.S. have been involved in the litigation, including Home Depot, 7-Eleven and Starbucks, in addition to the 90 percent of small businesses that made up the plaintiffs in the case.

Please select this link to read the complete article from i3 Commerce Technology.