Visa and Mastercard have reportedly inched closer to reaching a settlement with US retailers that would see both payment companies reduce the fees charged to merchants.
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the discussions, the potential agreement could also grant merchants greater flexibility in choosing which types of cards to accept. Under the proposal, the payment networks would gradually cut interchange fees, typically ranging between 2% and 2.5% per transaction, by about a tenth of a percentage point on average over several years. These fees, often referred to as ‘swipe fees,’ represent a long-standing source of tension between card issuers and merchants, who have argued that the costs are excessive and limit their ability to steer customers toward cheaper payment options.
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