Published: September 2023

Credit Card Competition Act would break up Visa-Mastercard duopoly

Advocates urged members of Congress to swiftly pass the Credit Card Competition Act in an effort to address the Visa-Mastercard duopoly in the U.S., which has resulted in the highest credit card swipe fees in the industrialized world.

Consumer Action joined allies in a letter urging lawmakers to swiftly pass the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act, designed to address the market domination of Visa and Mastercard. Due to this duopoly’s unchecked market power in the U.S., Americans pay ten times the swipe fees that consumers in Europe pay. These interchange fees far exceed the actual cost of handling the transactions. Due to the anticompetitive practices of Visa and Mastercard, which set both the rules and prices for merchants to accept electronic payments, merchants are forced to pass along the high credit card transaction costs to consumers through higher prices. These fees impose the greatest hardship on the most vulnerable consumers, who predominantly use cash and subsidize others’ card usage by paying inflated prices for their groceries, gas, and other goods and services. The Credit Card Competition Act will open the door for other payment networks to compete on price and other features, leading to a decrease in swipe fees and improving security and efficiency.

Lead Organization

Americans for Financial Reform

More Information

Read the letter here.

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