Behind every credit card swipe is a fee — known as an interchange fee — paid by the merchant to the cardholder’s bank, facilitated by the card network. In 2026, this long-simmering tension between merchants and the card industry has moved back into the legislative spotlight in a very concrete way.
The Credit Card Competition Act, explained
The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) was reintroduced in both the House and Senate on January 13, 2026, with bipartisan sponsorship from Senators Dick Durbin and Roger Marshall, alongside Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Lance Gooden, and it received a public endorsement from the White House. Modeled on the 2010 Durbin Amendment, which required debit cards to support at least two unaffiliated payment networks, the CCCA would require large banks to offer multiple, unaffiliated network options for processing credit card transactions as well — though notably, unlike the debit card rule, it does not impose a direct price cap. The bill’s sponsors have indicated they intend to try attaching it to larger legislative packages moving through Congress in 2026, after an early attempt to attach it to a housing bill was unsuccessful in March.
How interchange fees work today
Every time you swipe, tap, or enter your card number, the merchant pays a fee — averaging around 1.8% to as much as 2–3% of the transaction depending on the card and network — to the cardholder’s issuing bank. Visa and Mastercard together control the large majority of the US card network market, and the fees they set are paid to the issuing bank rather than kept by the network itself, though network fees have also been rising as a separate cost pressure on issuers.
Why merchants push back
Retailers, particularly small businesses, argue that interchange fees represent one of their largest operating costs after labor and rent, and merchant groups have lobbied for years for legislation that would increase network competition, arguing it would lower the cost of accepting card payments and, ultimately, retail prices.
Why banks and card networks oppose the bill
The American Bankers Association and several other financial trade groups have formally opposed the CCCA, arguing in a joint letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that regulating interchange fees would lead to consumer harm rather than savings. Issuers point to what happened after the original Durbin Amendment on debit cards, where more limited interchange revenue was followed by less generous debit rewards — a pattern they argue would likely repeat with credit cards if the CCCA passes.
What could change for consumers if the bill advances
Industry analysts have specifically warned that large sign-up bonuses on premium travel cards — some currently in the range of 60,000 to 100,000-plus points — could be reduced or eliminated if the legislation passes, since these bonuses are funded directly by interchange revenue the bill targets. Smaller banks and credit unions, which are technically exempt from the bill, have also raised concerns that they could face indirect competitive pressure as larger banks adjust their offerings.
A lesson from the debit card precedent
Because the CCCA is explicitly modeled on the 2010 Durbin Amendment, looking at what happened to debit cards after that law passed is one of the most useful ways to anticipate what a credit card equivalent might look like. After debit interchange fees were capped, several major banks scaled back or eliminated debit rewards programs that had previously offered cashback on debit purchases, since the revenue that funded those programs shrank considerably. Some banks also introduced new checking account fees to offset lost interchange income. Supporters of the CCCA argue that credit cards are different enough, given the size of the interchange pool involved, that a similar contraction wouldn’t necessarily follow, while opponents argue the debit card experience is the clearest evidence available of how issuers respond to this type of legislation.
How merchants would likely respond if the bill passes
If interchange competition succeeds in lowering merchant costs, some retailers may pass part of that savings on through lower prices, though this pass-through is neither automatic nor guaranteed, and empirical evidence from the original Durbin Amendment on debit cards showed mixed results on this front. Other merchants might instead use their existing legal right to apply card-payment surcharges more widely, a practice that has already been expanding independently of this legislation, particularly among smaller retailers seeking to offset rising costs.
What to watch for as a signal that change is coming
Because federal legislation typically takes years to move from introduction to passage, the most reliable early warning signs for consumers are usually issuer-level, not legislative. If you notice your card’s rewards categories narrowing, sign-up bonuses shrinking, or new fees appearing on a previously fee-free product, it’s worth checking whether the change coincides with broader interchange-related news, since issuers sometimes get ahead of anticipated regulatory pressure by adjusting programs preemptively.
Bottom line
This remains an active, unresolved legislative fight rather than a settled outcome — the bill has bipartisan and executive support but has not yet passed either chamber as of this writing. The most practical response for consumers is to recognize that today’s rewards structures are not guaranteed to remain unchanged, and to stay aware of how legislative developments on interchange fees could reshape card benefits over the next year or two.
Related reading
- Credit Cards Dropping Their Annual Fees: A Growing Trend
- Understanding Credit Card Welcome Bonuses: How Issuers Compete for New Customers
- What the CFPB’s Return to Credit Card Oversight Could Mean in 2027
Official sources and further reading
These official resources go deeper on the topics covered in this article:
- CFPB: Credit cards, guides and tools
- Federal Reserve: FOMC meeting calendar
- New York Fed: Household Debt and Credit Report
Jan Llaona is the founder and editor of TargetaClara. He’s currently studying Business at the University of Girona (Spain) and researches and writes the site’s coverage of U.S. consumer credit and personal finance — how APRs and fees actually work, how Federal Reserve decisions filter down to your monthly statement, and how to evaluate credit products on real numbers rather than marketing claims. Every article is checked against primary sources — Federal Reserve data, CFPB guidance, and issuer terms — before publishing.