Senators Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) reintroduced the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) on Tuesday after President Trump endorsed it earlier that day.
The legislation aims to break Visa and Mastercard’s grip on the payments market by requiring large banks to route transactions over competing networks, a change that could increase competition, lower swipe fees, reduce processing costs for convenience-store retailers and improve transaction security.
“Everyone should support great Republican Senator Roger Marshall’s Credit Card Competition Act, in order to stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Roger is a FANTASTIC Senator!!! President DJT.”
Credit and debit card swipe fees—which have increased 70% since 2020 and reached a record $187.2 billion in 2024—are convenience retailers’ second-highest operating expense after labor, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).
Credit card companies set the swipe fees charged by banks that issue cards under their brands and block transactions from being processed over other networks that could do the job with lower fees and better security.
The CCCA would require banks with at least $100 billion in assets to enable cards they issue to be processed over at least two unaffiliated networks—Visa or Mastercard plus a competitor like NYCE, Star or Shazam.
With the CCCA in place, banks would choose which networks to enable but merchants would then choose which to use, resulting in competition over fees, security and service that is expected to save merchants and consumers $17 billion a year. Rewards would not be affected, security would be improved, consumers would still use the same cards and community banks and all but one credit union would be exempt, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC).
Retailers have long challenged Visa and Mastercard over swipe fees, beginning with an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2005. That case, which alleged price-fixing and anticompetitive practices in how interchange fees are set, sparked years of litigation and settlements and laid the groundwork for current legislative efforts like the Credit Card Competition Act.
The CCCA is supported by almost 2,000 companies and nearly 300 trade associations, as well as a broad group of consumer, labor and pro-competition organizations, MPC said.
“Thank you, President Trump, for protecting America’s consumers and Main Street businesses,” said MPC Executive Committee member and NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor. “Giant credit card companies and Wall Street banks have gotten away with price-fixing credit card swipe fees and sticking everyday Americans with the bill for years. The average family pays $1,200 more each year just to cover these fees. Enough is enough, and the President deserves enormous credit for taking on this issue that secretly eats away at every family’s budget.”
In addition to NACS, the National Grocers Association voiced its support for the bill’s reintroduction.
“This legislation is urgently needed to fix a credit card marketplace that is fundamentally broken and stacked against small businesses—especially independent community grocers,” said Christopher Jones, NGA chief government relations officer. “Visa and Mastercard control 80% of the credit card marketplace and refuse to negotiate fees with family-owned supermarkets. With margins of under 2%, grocers have no choice but to pass these excessive swipe fees on to consumers in the form of higher grocery prices. The Credit Card Competition Act would provide much-needed relief to independent grocers and their customers, who benefit the most from competition in the marketplace.”
Senators Durbin and Marshall introduced the CCCA the last session of Congress, according to Senator Dick Durbin’s website. The legislation was co-sponsored by then-Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), and Senators Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), but it failed to pass.
What happens next with the Credit Card Competition Act?
The bill now heads to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs for consideration, but it faces potential opposition from major banks.
The American Bankers Association and seven bank and credit union associations said in a joint letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that imposing regulations on credit card interchange fees will lead to consumer harm, citing recent research that estimates the Durbin-Marshall bill would raise the cost of checking account services to consumers by $1.3 billion to $2 billion a year. They also noted the bill will “open the door to fraud, hamper rewards programs, and limit the allocation of credit to individuals and small businesses.”
Visa and Mastercard have not publicly commented on the reintroduction of the bill.
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