FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: J. Craig Shearman
(202) 257-3678 craig@shearmancommunications.com
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2026 — The amount big banks and card networks may collect in credit card “swipe” fees on gasoline and diesel has now reached as much as $60 million a day, the Merchants Payments Coalition said today.
“The pain the credit card industry is inflicting on Americans at the gas pump just keeps growing,” MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said. “High, price-fixed credit card swipe fees are multiplying the other factors driving gas and diesel prices higher. This makes life less affordable for Americans as these prices, particularly diesel prices, inflate the cost of most of the things people buy. This is exactly the kind of swipe fee ripoff President Trump has said needs to end. American families cannot afford for this to continue.”
Credit card swipe fees on the average $4.46 gallon of gasoline amounted to 10.5 cents as of today, according to MPC’s Fuel Price/Swipe Fee Tracker, while swipe fees on the average $5.64 gallon of diesel were 13.3 cents. Based on average daily fuel consumption and the average swipe fee rate of 2.36%, fees on gas and diesel combined would amount to $60.9 million a day and more than $1.8 billion a month if all fuel purchases were paid for with credit cards.
That total is up 24% from $49 million a day when MPC launched the tracker in early March. The increase alone amounts to nearly $12 million a day, or $360 million a month.
The swipe fees banks charge merchants to process credit card purchases are a percentage of the transaction, meaning the amount collected automatically goes up as prices rise. Not all fuel purchases are made with credit cards, but some cards carry swipe fees as high as 4%.
The rising swipe fees numbers come as Visa, Mastercard and some of the largest banks that issue cards under their brands are reporting double-digit increases in profits driven, in part, by higher swipe fees on fuel.
JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest issuer of Visa and Mastercard credit cards, reported recently that net profits for the first quarter were up 13% year over year and No. 2 card issuer Citigroup said net profits were up 42% year over year. Last week, Visa said profits were up 32% in its most recent quarter and Mastercard said its profits were up 18%.
Lucrative credit card and debit card swipe fees have already jumped 80% since the pandemic and hit a record $198.25 billion in 2025.
Congress is currently considering the Credit Card Competition Act, which President Donald Trump endorsed earlier this year to “stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff.”
Swipe fees are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor and too much to absorb, driving up prices by more than $1,200 a year for the average family. The fees are rising largely because of lack of competition — Visa and Mastercard, which control 80% of the market, each centrally set the swipe fee rates charged by all banks that issue cards under their brands and restrict processing to their own networks.
Under the bill, banks with at least $100 billion in assets would enable credit cards to be processed over at least one unaffiliated network like Star, NYCE or Shazam in addition to Visa or Mastercard. The measure is expected to result in competition over fees, security and service that would save merchants and their customers $17 billion a year.
About MPC
The Merchants Payments Coalition represents retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores, gasoline stations, online merchants and others fighting for a more competitive and transparent card system that is fair to consumers and merchants. Follow MPC on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn for the latest on swipe fees.