Visa and Mastercard Settled Their Swipe Fee Lawsuit. Here’s What That Means for Your Business.

If you’re like the rest of us and you’ve been keeping your eyes on the news and came across the newest headlines about Visa and Mastercard “lowering swipe fees”, take a breath first. The good news? The settlement is real, and it’s a pretty big deal. However, the number is smaller than the headlines make it out to be.

Here’s the plain-English version.

What actually happened

In November 2025, Visa and Mastercard came to an agreement to a potential settlement to resolve merchant lawsuits over interchange (swipe) fees. These lawsuits have been dragging through the courts for the last 20 years. Keep in mind, a federal judge still has to approve the settlement and changes wouldn’t take effect until late 2026 or even early 2027.

What’s changing

Fees will hopefully go down for a little while. Swipe fees are known to run about 2% to 2.5% now. However, if the settlement goes through, swipe fees would drop about 0.1 percentage point for five years. Credit cards would get an interchange cap of 1.25% for eight years, which would be great compared to where rates typically sit.

You get more say over what cards you can accept. Honestly, as of right now, this is the biggest change. Right now, if you’re accepting Visa or Mastercard, you have to accept every version of it. This includes all premium rewards cards that can carry the highest interchange fees. However, under the settlement, merchants could actually choose what cards to accept. You could choose to accept standard cards, premium cards, business cards, or even a combination of cards rather than being stuck in an all-or-nothing deal.

There’s more room to pass costs along. The settlement would also expand merchants’ ability to add surcharges when a customer pays by card.

The takeaway

Groups like the National Retail Federation and the National Association of Convenience Stores have publicly ridiculed the deal, saying that the fee reduction is too small to notice. They argue it gives the card networks the ability to keep fees high everywhere else. A 0.1 percentage point trimmed off of a 2.3% average is not the actual relief that small merchants have been asking Congress for.

Here’s the real lesson in all of this: if you’re waiting for the card networks to do the right thing and lower interchange rates substantially, it’s probably not going to happen. But what you can do is address everything that’s in your control. Review your statement and look for any junk fees on top of interchange. It might shock you to see how much you’re actually paying and how much of it is negotiable.

That’s exactly where Redde comes in. We’re the ones who sit on your side helping translate what’s actually happening in your statement and your account. We make sure you understand all terms preventing future problems. Settlements like this will continue to make headlines, but what actually protects your business is knowing exactly who’s explaining the fine print to you.

See what you're actually paying, today

Luckily, you don’t have to wait until 2027 to find out if you’re overpaying. Just upload your current processing statement and we will break it down for you, then send a customized offer to beat your current rate. No settlement required.

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Sources:

Fox Business, "Visa, Mastercard reach swipe-fee settlement: How it'll affect your wallet"
CNBC, "Visa, Mastercard reach new swipe fee settlement with merchants"
Payments Dive, "Visa, Mastercard reach legal pact with merchants"
Yahoo Finance, "What the $38 billion Visa, Mastercard swipe fee settlement means for credit card users"

Visa and Mastercard Settled Their Swipe Fee Lawsuit. Here’s What That Means for Your Business.