New Data: Small Businesses Paid More Credit Card ‘Swipe Fees’ in 2024 Compared to 2023

Washington, D.C. (March 18, 2025)—New financial data reveals credit card companies and banks charged businesses more than $148 billion in 2024 to process customer credit cards. That’s up more than $12 billion compared to the year before. These “swipe fee” levels continue to skyrocket because of a lack of competition.

The payments arena is dominated by Visa and Mastercard, which control 80 percent of the credit card market. Soon-to-be reintroduced legislation in Congress called the Credit Card Competition Act would give small businesses more options on how to process credit card transactions—lowering costs in the process.

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

“Small businesses across the country are plagued by high credit card ‘swipe fees’ that often account for the second highest operating expense behind labor costs. As Visa and Mastercard continue to dominate the market with little competition, the problem facing Main Street is only getting worse. Lawmakers in Washington need to reintroduce and swiftly pass the Credit Card Competition Act to give small businesses much needed financial breathing room.”