Trump promises cuts to 'out-of-control' processing fees

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) , first introduced in Congress in 2023 and reintroduced in both the House and Senate in January 2026, hasn't yet made it to a vote in either chamber. But that hasn't stopped President Trump from suggesting he'd sign the legislation into law. The president did that during his keynote address to the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 9, 2026, positioning passage of the bill as a move to help inflation-weary consumers.

"We will cut out-of-control credit card swipe [interchange] fees, saving the average family at least $1,200 a year," the president said. "We will not allow Americans to pay seven to eight times more for those fees than they do in any other country. We pay seven, eight and nine times more than they do," he added.

He appeared to be comparing U.S. interchange rates to rates in places like Australia and the European Union.

Comparing interchange regimes

Australia has regulated card interchange for more than two decades, and the Reserve Bank of Australia, that country's central bank, is tightening those limits effective Oct. 1, 2026. Interchange on domestic consumer credit cards will be capped at 30 basis points (0.30 percent of the ticket total), while commercial credit card interchange will remain capped at 80 basis points (0.80 percent). Interchange on domestic debit and prepaid card payments will be capped at 8 cents or 0.16 percent of the ticket.

In the European Union, interchange on consumer credit card payments is capped at 30 basis points (0.3 percent), and debit card interchange is capped at 20 basis points (0.2 percent). In the United States, credit card interchange typically ranges between 1.15 percent and 3.30 percent. Debit card interchange for covered issuers is capped at 21 cents plus 5 basis points and an adjustment of 1 cent for financial institutions that meet fraud-prevention requirements.

The Federal Reserve, which was charged with setting debit card interchange caps under the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, proposed in 2023 lowering the cap to 14.4 cents plus 4 basis points and a 1.3-cent fraud-prevention adjustment. The proposal has not been finalized, however, and the Fed currently lists the rulemaking as a long-term action with the timing of any further action undetermined.

Three times the charm?

This isn't the first time Trump has raised the issue of credit card interchange. He made similar remarks in January of this year and again in August. In August, he specifically mentioned the CCCA in a Truth Social post endorsing the primary bid of one of the bill's authors, Senator Roger Marshall.

The CCCA doesn't directly cap interchange. Instead, it would require that merchants be given a choice of at least two unaffiliated networks for processing credit card transactions, only one of which could be Visa or Mastercard. The requirement would apply to cards issued by the nation's largest financial institutions, those with $100 billion or more in assets.

The current Senate bill was introduced by Senators Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and has gained several co-sponsors, including Senators Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., both members of the Senate Banking Committee, and Angus King, I-Maine. A companion Credit Card Competition Act has been introduced in the House by Representatives Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

The Merchants Payments Coalition, which represents a swath of retailing trade associations, has been buoyed by the president's endorsement of its primary lobbying issue. "President Trump is right that dealing with credit card swipe fees would be one of the most effective ways to help American families," said Doug Kantor, a member of the MPC's executive committee and general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores.

"Bringing competition to these constantly rising fees would provide relief at a time when it is badly needed," he added. "We appreciate that this is a priority for President Trump. It's time for Congress to take action."

Will consumers see the savings?

Whether lower merchant payment costs would translate into comparable savings for consumers is less certain. Evidence following implementation of the Durbin Amendment, which capped debit interchange beginning in 2011, found little corresponding reduction in retail prices.

A Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond study based on a merchant survey conducted about two years after the regulation took effect estimated that 77.2 percent of merchants had not changed prices, while 21.6 percent increased them and just 1.2 percent reduced them. The researchers found that merchants whose debit costs declined rarely responded by lowering prices.

Not surprisingly, the legislation is opposed by banks and their partners in the credit card market. According to a July 23, 2026, article in Forbes, the Electronic Payments Coalition, a lobbying group that represents the card networks, banks and other companies involved in the credit card market, has spent an estimated $200 million lobbying against the legislation since it was first introduced in 2023.

The debate therefore involves more than whether increased routing competition could reduce merchants' card acceptance costs. As Congress again considers the CCCA, an equally important question is how much of any savings would ultimately make its way from merchants to consumers.

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