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H.R. 2890Active in CommitteeSector HeadwindFinance and Financial Sector

Breaks the Visa-Mastercard Duopoly on Credit Card 'Swipe Fees' (Could Cut Credit Card Rewards)

Forces big banks to offer a cheaper competitor network alongside Visa or Mastercard on every credit card—saving retailers billions, but threatening airline miles and cash-back points.

Official Congressional Title (Credit Card Competition & Swipe Fee Relief Act)

To require the Federal Reserve Board to limit debit and credit card interchange fees charged to merchants by card-issuing banks with assets exceeding $100 billion, and to require at least two unaffiliated routing networks on all issued credit cards.

Sponsor:Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX)
Cosponsors (41 total):
19 Dem•22 Rep
Bipartisan Consensus Score88/100
Legislative Status Tracker (Latest Action: 2026-10-12)
Introduced
In Committee
Passed 1 Chamber
Passed Both
Signed into Law

Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy; lobbying battle intensifying.

The Plain-English Breakdown

Every time you swipe or tap a credit card to buy a $100 pair of shoes, the store only gets about $97.50. The other $2.50 is a hidden 'swipe fee' split between Visa/Mastercard and your bank. Visa and Mastercard control over 80% of the U.S. credit card market, and stores say those fees force them to raise prices on groceries and clothes for everyone. This bill forces big banks (like Chase, Citi, and Bank of America) to put at least TWO competing networks on every credit card—so if the card has Visa on the front, it also has to allow stores to process the payment over a cheaper rival network on the back. Retailers love it, but banks warn they will cut your free airline miles and 2% cash-back rewards if their swipe fees get slashed.

What Actually Changes in Real Life If Passed

  • Allows grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants to route your credit card swipe over cheaper networks to save $15B+/year in fees.
  • Could cause major banks to scale back generous credit card sign-up bonuses, airport lounge perks, and 2% cash-back points (just like debit rewards vanished after 2010).
  • Exempts community banks and credit unions under $100 billion in assets.
  • Sparks one of the largest corporate lobbying wars in Washington: Walmart, Target, and Amazon vs. Visa, Mastercard, Chase, and the airlines.

Clause-by-Clause: Official Verbiage vs. Plain English

Side-by-side translation of the bill's key statutory sections

Sec. 2(a) — Mandatory Dual-Network Routing on Credit CardsAntitrust / Fees
📜 Official Statutory Verbiage

“No covered card issuer may restrict the number of payment card networks on which an electronic credit transaction may be processed to fewer than two unaffiliated networks, at least one of which is not one of the two largest networks by market share.”

✨ Plain-English Translation

Every credit card from a big bank must include a non-Visa, non-Mastercard backup network so stores can pick whichever network charges the lowest swipe fee.

Who Wins / Benefits

Big-Box Retailers, Grocery Chains, Restaurants & E-Commerce (Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Amazon)

Saves an estimated $15 billion per year in credit card interchange processing costs.

Alternative Payment Networks (Discover/Capital One, Fiserv/Star, Fidelity National/NYCE)

Gains legally mandated access to the back of every Chase, Citi, and Bank of America credit card.

Who Pays / Loses

Visa, Mastercard & Mega-Bank Card Issuers (JPM, C, BAC)

Faces direct pricing compression on their highest-margin interchange and network assessment fee streams.

Airlines & Heavy Credit-Card Points Maximizers

Airlines (Delta, United, American) earn billions selling frequent-flyer miles to banks funded by swipe fees.

Market & Public Equity Impact

Sectors, ETFs, and public companies exposed to this legislation

Sector Headwind

Significant headline and margin risk for Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), and money-center card issuers; margin tailwind for high-volume retailers (WMT, TGT, COST).

VVisa Inc.
NEGATIVE

Directly targets Visa's U.S. credit routing dominance and pricing power.

MAMastercard Inc.
NEGATIVE

Prohibits Mastercard from pairing with Visa to satisfy the dual-network rule, forcing volume onto rival rails.

WMTWalmart Inc.
POSITIVE

Low-margin high-volume retailers capture immediate operating margin expansion from lower swipe fees.

DALDelta Air Lines
WATCH

Co-branded airline credit card loyalty programs generate the bulk of U.S. airline net income; funded by high interchange rates.

Rider & Hidden Pork Detector

Checks for unrelated attachments, earmarks, or omnibus logrolling

Rider Complexity11/100

Single-subject financial competition bill—no government spending, just a massive tug-of-war between retail giants and banking/airline giants.