Job Creators Network Urges Senate to Push Credit Card Competition Reform Now To Reduce Inflated Small Business Costs

Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2025)—Today, the Job Creators Network (JCN) is urging senators to push legislation that would address the ballooning credit card “swipe fees” small businesses are forced to pay every time a customer makes a purchase using a credit card. Last year, businesses forked over $148 billion to cover this hidden tax, which amounted to $12 billion more compared to the year before. These fees are generally 2% to 3% of purchases — a far higher processing fee than would exist in a free market with robust competition.

Reform sponsors, including Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), are moving to attach elements of the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) to a legislative vehicle currently moving through the Senate. The CCCA would inject competition into the payments industry in order to lower prices for Main Street. Visa and Mastercard control 80 percent of the credit card market—duopolistic control that allows the corporate giants to hold small businesses hostage.

Recent Job Creators Network Foundation polling finds that America’s small business community stands firmly behind the reform. Nearly 8 in 10 small businesses nationwide support legislative efforts to foster more competition within the credit card arena to lower “swipe fees.”

Alfredo Ortiz, Chief Executive Officer of the Job Creators Network, released the following statement: 

“Small businesses across the country are plagued by artificially high credit card ‘swipe fees’ that can eliminate their profit margins. These anti-competitive, inflated costs are compromising the ability of Main Street to grow and provide more economic opportunity in communities across the country. In parallel to passing tax cuts, Congress should get credit card competition reform over the finish line in whatever way possible. More free market competition combined with extending the tax cuts will create a new Golden Age for small businesses.”