Visa, Mastercard Agree to $30B Swipe Fee Settlement with Merchants

• Visa and Mastercard agree to cap credit card swipe fees charged to merchants in a settlement, potentially saving merchants $30B over 5 years

• Swipe fees are charged every time a credit card is used and are passed on to consumers through higher prices

• The settlement stems from a 2005 lawsuit by merchants arguing they paid excessive fees

• In addition to capping swipe fees at an average of 2.26%, Visa and Mastercard will rollback fees by 0.04 percentage points for 3 years

• Merchants will be allowed to charge different prices based on the costs of accepting various cards