Another Swipe Fee Battle Unfolding

Another major dispute on interchange fees could take place, and this one may have new, painful consequences on consumers. This time, the battle centers around the swipe fee that retailers pay on credit card transactions.

According to CNBC, there is an antitrust suit between five million retailers and Visa, MasterCard, and 13 large banks, including Citi, Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, U.S. Bancorp, and Wells Fargo. Retailers claim that banks and the payment systems have unfairly worked together to increase the amount of the interchange fee retailers pay on credit card transactions.

The amount that each retailer pays as a swipe fee varies widely but the industry average is approximately 2%. This antitrust suit could cut that figure by three-quarters down to 0.5%. That would be one more devastating revenue blow to the banks …