More than 950 retailers and trade groups asked U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan to reject the latest $38 billion Visa and Mastercard swipe-fee settlement, arguing the deal would shave interchange by only a tenth of a percentage point while locking merchants into network rules they have fought since 2005. The filing wave landed days after President Donald Trump told a Dallas convention audience that Washington would “cut out-of-control credit card swipe fees,” reviving a political fight that intersects with household prices at the register even though merchants—not card issuers—pay the bulk of interchange today.
What the settlement would—and would not—change
Cogan granted preliminary approval in June 2026 to a revised accord that would cover more than 12 million merchants and begin distributing roughly $2 billion in cash relief, according to court filings and coalition summaries. The networks pitched a long-sought concession: merchants could decline some premium rewards cards that carry the highest interchange, though objectors note those cards account for the majority of credit spending and that an “honor all cards” culture still pressures acceptance.
Walmart, Circle K, and the National Association of Convenience Stores argue the mandatory class structure itself may violate due process because large merchants cannot opt out of injunctive relief that would bind them for years. Class counsel has until Oct. 14 to respond to the objections, leaving grocers, gas stations, and restaurants with no clarity on whether 2027 budgets should assume lower card acceptance costs or the status quo.
Why cardholders still feel the fight
Interchange is invisible at checkout, but merchants routinely bake the cost into shelf prices. The coalition pegged total U.S. credit and debit swipe fees at a record $198.25 billion in 2025, up roughly 80% since the pandemic. A reduction of 0.10 percentage point on a 2.36% average rate, as critics describe the settlement’s interchange cut, would return average costs only to 2023 levels—not to pre-litigation benchmarks.
Trump’s Sept. 9 remarks did not spell out a mechanism, but he has previously backed the Credit Card Competition Act, which would require large issuers to route transactions over at least one competing network besides Visa or Mastercard. Issuers warn that routing mandates could erode rewards funding; merchants counter that network duopoly pricing is why rewards exist in the first place.
What to watch before holiday shopping
Until Cogan rules on final approval, surcharging rules and cash-discount programs remain governed by state law and network policies—not by the proposed settlement. Small businesses weighing “cash only” signs or card minimums should model fees using their actual interchange statements rather than national averages, because debit and regulated small-ticket rates diverge sharply from premium credit.
If the settlement collapses like the $30 billion proposal Brodie rejected in 2024, Congress may again become the venue for swipe-fee legislation during the midterm session. For now, the practical reader stake is price: objection briefs describe a settlement that leaves the fee stack intact, while campaign rhetoric promises the opposite—two stories that cannot both be true for long.