In 2023, US card issuers collected $72 billion in interchange fees, according to the Nilson Report
Visa and Mastercard are close to settling a 20-year legal battle with US merchants by agreeing to lower credit-card fees, giving stores more control over which cards they accept.
The deal would reduce interchange fees, typically between 2% and 2.5%, by about 0.1 percentage point over several years and loosen the rule requiring merchants to accept all of a network’s cards.
If approved by the court, the agreement could let stores reject high-fee rewards cards, which have surged in popularity.
In 2023, US card issuers collected $72 billion in interchange fees, according to the Nilson Report.