Trump promotes Credit Card Competition Act

Credit and debit card interchange fees have been a hot topic this week, with even the President weighing in on the debate. In a post to Truth Social endorsing Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in his primary race, President Trump wrote, "Roger is working tirelessly to pass the Credit Card Competition Act in order to stop the out of control swipe fee ripoff."

Senator Marshall, who won the primary, is the lead Republican sponsor of a bipartisan bill. He has teamed up with Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to secure a Senate vote on the bill. The legislation aims to provide merchants with the ability to choose what network processes credit and debit card payments they accept. (Under the legislation only one of those choices can be a network controlled by Visa or Mastercard.) Similar legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

The legislation follows decades of legal wrangling over interchange and is being promoted as a way for merchants to lower the cost of card acceptance (interchange, or "swipe fees" as merchants call it).

This isn't the first time Trump has voiced his support for the CCCA. In January 2026 he urged support of the bill using the same language. The Merchants Payments Coalition, a coalition of card-accepting businesses, quickly pounced on the President's support for the legislation.

"This is the second time President Trump has called for credit card swipe fee reform, and his continuing commitment shows that concern over these fees has reached the highest level," said Doug Kantor, general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores and a member of the MPC executive committee. "With President Trump and members of Congress from across the political spectrum seeking passage, it's time to turn this legislation into law."

Durbin makes pitch as news organizations amp up coverage

The MPC asserted that interchange has jumped 80 percent since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, and that credit and debit card interchange, combined totaled $198.25 in 2025. "These fees are rising largely because of the lack of competition," the group said in a press release. "Visa and Mastercard, which control 80 percent of the market, each centrally set the swipe fee rates charged by all banks that issue cards under their brands and restrict processing to their own networks."

Sen. Durbin raised the issue during an Aug. 4 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on artificial intelligence. Durbin, author of the Durbin Amendment that capped debit card interchange under the Dodd-Frank Act, is retiring at the end of the current legislative session.

"Our hearing is about information being gathered and consumers paying a higher price because of it. That is our concern," Durbin said during his questioning of a former Visa executive. "I think the same thing applies when it comes to Visa and Mastercard. I think there ought to be disclosure to the consumer about what [Visa and Mastercard] are charging [merchants]."

It's a theme that's been picked up by numerous news outlets, as MPC regularly sends out press releases on the topic. "Visa, Mastercard make bank on swipe fees," reads a July 31 headline on AL.com. "What credit card swipe fees cost Maine," reads the headline on an Aug. 3 editorial in the Portland Press Herald. "How much do 'swipe fees' cost credit card users & businesses every year? More than you probably think," reads the headline on a story featured on the website of News4JAX in Jacksonville, Fla., July 31.

Merchants welcome Trump's endorsement

"We welcome the president once again backing this landmark bipartisan bill that would help restore affordability to our nation's economy," Kantor said. "With President Trump and members of Congress from across the political spectrum seeking passage, it's time to turn this legislation into law."

The CCCA would apply to banks with at least $100 billion in assets. It would require those banks to program the cards they issue to be processed through at least one network not affiliated with Visa or Mastercard, such as the debit card networks Star, NYCE and Shazam.

MPC, in a press release, said the measure could result in competition over fees, security and service that would save merchants and their customers $17 billion a year.

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