By Dean Seal


Visa and Mastercard have agreed to lower credit card interchange fees and cap rates into 2030 as part of a landmark settlement of long-running litigation with U.S. merchants.

The companies said Tuesday that the deal calls for payment networks to cut their interchange fees, sometimes called "swipe fees," on U.S.-issued credit card transactions at small businesses and other U.S. merchants.

The settlement also bars the companies from raising those rates for five years and gives merchants more flexibility at the point-of-sale, the companies said. Among those new benefits include the opportunity to steer to preferred payment methods and take a simplified approach to credit card transaction surcharging.

The settlement is expected to be approved later this year or in early 2025.


Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-26-24 0925ET