From NBC News:
With new fee increases and more shoppers ditching cash, small businesses urge their customers to consider sticking with bills and coins.
Many small businesses are breathing a bit easier as inflation has cooled and the race for workers slows. But consumers’ steady embrace of credit cards is taking a growing bite out of their margins.
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Spending on American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa cards in the U.S. soared to $5.25 trillion in the first half of 2024, up from around $4.98 trillion during the same period in 2023, according to data provided to NBC News by the Nilson Report, which covers the payments industry.
Some of Visa’s fees are now going up. The card network raised two of the credit card swipe fees it charges banks and processing companies on Jan. 1. The move comes amid growing pushback from critics, including some lawmakers, who say swipe fees are excessive and frequently get passed on to shoppers.
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“Swipe fees are definitely a really contentious thing and have been a battlefield between credit card issuers and networks and merchants for a long time,” said LendingTree’s Schulz. “It feels like that battle is really only going to keep going on for the next little while.”
The article also discusses stalled Congressional legislation. It remains to be seen if such a bill could survive this new Congress or the incoming administration.
Thoughts?
h/t CobaltSunsets