Visa, Mastercard settle long-running antitrust suit over swipe fees with merchants

Visa and MasterCard announced a settlement with U.S. merchants related to swipe fees, a development that could potentially save consumers tens of billions of dollars. Swipe fees are paid to Visa, Mastercard and other credit card companies in exchange for enabling transactions. Merchants ultimately pass on those fees to consumers who use credit or debit cards. According to the settlement announced Tuesday, Visa and Mastercard will cap the credit interchange fees into 2030, and the companies must negotiate the fees with merchant buying groups.