Trump’s Support for Swipe Fee Bill Poses Major Threat to Banks

President Donald Trump’s push for a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates is generating headaches for banks, but his decision to back a long-gestating bill targeting fees paid by retailers on credit card transactions may ultimately pose an even bigger threat to their bottom lines.

Trump in a Truth Social post this month urged Congress to pass the “Credit Card Competition Act” (S. 3623), a recently reintroduced bill from Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would require banks with more than $100 billion in assets to offer retailers multiple routes to process credit card transactions, potentially bypassing Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc.’s dominant networks and reducing banks’ revenue from swipe fees.

Bank and credit union trade groups have for years furiously lobbied against the legislation, and their opposition is only ramping up after Trump’s social media post. The industry associations are urging members to call their representatives and releasing studies claiming the bill would eliminate popular credit card rewards while only benefiting big-box retailers.

Banks are right to be concerned, especially given a push from backers of the Marshall-Durbin bill to attach it to must-pass legislation, policy analysts said.

“If it gets a vote, we think there’s a decent chance it passes,” said Justin Schardin, vice president for financial services at CFRA Washington Analysis.

Banking giants including Capital One Financial Corp. CEO Richard Fairbank and JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon have warned that a 10% cap on credit card interest rates would spell economic disaster. But interchange and related fees—"the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff,” in Trump’s words—are also a crucial source of revenue for banks.

Banks generated $160 billion in interest payments in 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a December 2025 report on the credit card market. In the same year, card-issuing banks and networks collected $122.3 billion in swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards alone, according to payments consulting firm CMSPI.

Trump’s push for swipe fee limits also comes as Visa and Mastercard are seeking court approval in long-standing litigation with merchants for a proposed settlement that would reduce interchange fees, potentially saving retailers more than $38 billion through 2031, according to estimates cited by the parties.

Tagging Along

Marshall and Durbin failed to attach their bill to the National Defense Authorization Act enacted last month (Public Law 119-60), but Trump’s backing increases the chances they’ll get it linked to other must-pass legislation this year, Schardin said.

Options for legislative vehicles include the stalled crypto market structure bill awaiting Senate action and must-pass spending bills, he said.

Marshall and Durbin submitted a slightly modified version of the bill as an amendment to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s portion of the market structure legislation, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday committee markup.

Supporters of the swipe fee measure still face hurdles getting to a floor vote, however.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said he expects the bill will get a vote in his chamber, although Thune represents a state with a heavy credit card industry presence. Other legislative leaders have been noncommittal at best on the legislation’s prospects, the policy analysts said.

Plus, many lawmakers don’t want to get between banks and popular card reward programs on one side and retailers on the other, especially in a midterm election year.

“The problem for the CCCA as of now is it really doesn’t do much for Republicans in the election, which is really where the focus of Republicans is now,” said Peter Dugas, a managing director at Regulatory Intelligence Group focusing on financial services.

Attention Spans

But even with those hurdles, the swipe fee legislation has a much better chance of becoming law than any proposed credit card interest rate cap, the policy analysts said.

“There is more bipartisan warmth toward the CCCA,” said Nathan Dean, a policy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

When it comes to interest rates, there may be workarounds that would allow the banking industry to temporarily cut rates on their own, reducing the need for any legislation.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., for instance, are reportedly considering offering credit cards with 10% interest rate caps.

Even if they ultimately bring in less money from interest payments, however, banks are likely to continue fighting hard to preserve their swipe fee profits.

“Any sensible CEO puts money where it brings the greatest return,” said Adam Rust, the Consumer Federation of America’s director of financial services.

If Trump wants to get the Marshall-Durbin bill passed, he’s going to have to strike fast to overcome opposition and fleeting attention spans, Schardin said.

“This is a hot topic right now,” he said. “When it gets to the defense bill, is it still going to be a hot topic?”