Visa, Mastercard seek final OK of swipe-fee deal: What would change

The settlement is not final. Based on the court-authorized settlement website, the settlement agreement filed with the SEC, and Payments Dive's reporting on the court filings.

What happened

Visa and Mastercard asked a federal judge on Oct. 14 to give final approval to their settlement with merchants over card swipe fees, Payments Dive reported. Swipe fees are what a business pays to accept a card. Interchange, the part set by the card networks and paid to the bank that issued the card, is usually the biggest piece, according to the settlement website.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn will hold a fairness hearing on Nov. 16, 2026, at 11 a.m. to decide whether to give final approval, the settlement website says. He gave the deal preliminary approval on June 9, 2026, Payments Dive reported. Preliminary approval let the parties notify merchants and collect objections. It did not put the deal into effect.

Why it matters to you

If you accepted Visa or Mastercard at any time from Dec. 18, 2020, through June 9, 2026, you're in the class this settlement covers, according to the settlement website. You can't opt out, and the deadline to object passed on Sept. 14, 2026 (settlement website).

The deal pays merchants no money (FAQ, question 7). Instead, it would change Visa's and Mastercard's rates and rules. That affects what you pay on credit cards and how you can pass those costs on to guests.

What would change on your card fees

These are the terms as written in the settlement agreement dated Nov. 10, 2025, and summarized on the settlement website. None of them apply unless the judge gives final approval.

Credit card rates, for five years. Each network's average credit interchange rate would have to be at least 10 basis points below the two networks' combined average for the year ending March 31, 2025. Ten basis points is 0.10 percentage point. Neither network could raise any posted U.S. credit interchange rate above its March 31, 2025, level while that limit lasts.

The 10-point cut is a network-wide average, not a promise for every card or every merchant. Merchants with custom rate deals with Visa or Mastercard would get a proportional cut, the FAQ says.

For scale: if a full 0.10-point cut reached your rate, you'd save $100 a year for every $100,000 in Visa and Mastercard credit card sales (our math). That's the best case, because we found no requirement in the agreement that processors pass the cut through to you (see below). Across all merchants, Visa and Mastercard transactions cost an average 2.35% in 2024, according to Nilson Report data as reported by Payments Dive. That's an industry average, not your rate. Your processing statement shows what you pay.

"Standard" consumer credit cards, for eight years. Posted interchange on standard consumer credit cards would be cut to no more than 1.25% and held there, according to the FAQ. Standard cards are a separate category from premium consumer cards and commercial cards. Objectors say more than 90% of credit card spending is on rewards cards, according to their letter's summary.

Choosing which credit cards you take. You could accept or decline, by network, three groups of credit cards: commercial, standard consumer and premium consumer (FAQ). Today's "honor all cards" rules require merchants who take a network's cards to take all of them, Payments Dive explains. New premium and commercial cards would carry a visual marker so staff can tell them apart.

Passing card costs on to guests. You'd have more room to add a fee for Visa or Mastercard credit card payments, up to 3% or your cost of accepting those cards, whichever is lower (FAQ). That applies to credit cards, not debit. You could also give a discount to guests who don't pay with those credit cards, which covers a cash discount. The agreement sets disclosure rules for card fees (agreement, paragraphs 39-42). Some states restrict adding card fees, and the deal funds a $21 million merchant education program that covers options in those states (FAQ).

What the deal doesn't cap. The agreement lets Visa and Mastercard keep setting network fees, the fees they charge apart from interchange (agreement, paragraphs 54 and 103). Objectors say that leaves the networks free to raise those fees (Merchants Payments Coalition). In a text search of the agreement, we found no requirement that payment processors pass a lower interchange rate through to a merchant's price.

When changes would start

Nothing changes before final approval. If the judge approves, the clock starts when he enters the final judgment, under the agreement's definition of the "Settlement Approval Date."

• Card-acceptance and card-fee rules: within 90 days after that date (agreement, paragraphs 19-44 for Visa and 68-93 for Mastercard).
• Rate cuts and caps: no earlier than four months after that date, timed to the networks' April and October rate updates (paragraphs 48 and 97).

The settlement website says, "We do not know how long the Court will take to make its decision" (FAQ, question 15). Payments Dive reported a decision could come by year's end. Cogan ruled about six weeks after an April hearing. If approval came in late 2026, four months later is spring 2027, so the first rate changes would land in an April or October 2027 update (our reading of the agreement).

An appeal could follow. The National Association of Convenience Stores said it would appeal if Cogan grants final approval, Payments Dive reported.

Who objects, and what the networks say

Walmart and about 1,000 other merchants asked the judge in September to reject the deal, Payments Dive reported. The roughly 1,000 signers of one objection letter include the National Restaurant Association, according to Payments Dive. A separate group of 29 merchants that objected includes DoorDash and Peet's Coffee, the outlet reported.

The letter says the deal gives the networks and banks "sweeping liability immunity" while offering merchants "temporary and meager relief" (Merchants Payments Coalition). The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association called it "a series of half-measures," Payments Dive reported. Walmart, Circle K and the National Association of Convenience Stores also asked to be let out of the class.

Some small businesses wrote in support. A Virginia convenience store owner said the deal "would provide meaningful relief for an operation my size," Payments Dive reported.

Visa says the settlement would give merchants "meaningful relief, more flexibility and options to control how they accept payments from their customers" (Visa SEC filing, Nov. 10, 2025). Mastercard said in June the agreement "balances the interests of all parties involved," Payments Dive reported. In their Oct. 14 filing, the networks said the objectors are "no more than a vocal minority" of a class of more than 12 million merchants (Payments Dive).

The lawyers for the merchant class also filed a reply to the objections on Oct. 14, but under seal, so it isn't public. Cogan asked the lawyers to propose redactions by Monday, Oct. 19, Payments Dive reported.

What to do now

You don't need to file anything. Class members "automatically benefit" if the deal is approved (settlement website). Until then, it's worth asking your payment processor:

1. How is my rate built? Does my price move when Visa and Mastercard change interchange, or is it a flat rate?
2. If interchange drops, will my rate drop, and when would I see it on a statement?
3. Can your system tell premium and commercial cards apart at checkout, if I want to decline them or price them differently?
4. What are the rules in my state for adding a card fee or offering a cash discount, and what would I need to disclose to guests?

Details may change; we'll update this piece after the Nov. 16 hearing and when the judge rules.