New five-year agreement aims to lower swipe fees, boost flexibility, and enhance fairness for businesses worldwide.

In a groundbreaking move for global commerce, Visa and Mastercard have unveiled a $38 billion settlement designed to reduce card processing fees and empower merchants with greater control over payment choices.

The historic accord concludes two decades of litigation and ushers in a new era of cooperation between financial institutions and retailers.

The settlement focuses on lowering “swipe fees” — the charges merchants pay to accept card payments — by 0.1 percentage point for the next five years.

This measure is expected to deliver tangible cost savings and strengthen the business ecosystem across the United States.

Beyond reducing fees, the agreement promotes transparency and flexibility, giving merchants the option to select which card types they will accept, including commercial, premium, and standard consumer cards.

This change allows businesses to tailor payment options according to their operational needs and customer preferences.

A major highlight of the settlement is the 1.25% cap on standard consumer rates, locked in for eight years. This represents a significant 25% reduction, benefitting small and mid-sized merchants in particular.

The reforms also introduce greater freedom for merchants to apply surcharges of up to 3% when customers pay by card, further leveling the financial playing field. These measures collectively aim to strengthen retail profitability while maintaining competitive, consumer-friendly pricing.

Financial experts, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, estimate that the total savings for merchants over the duration of the settlement could exceed $200 billion.

This massive financial relief underscores Visa and Mastercard’s commitment to advancing innovation, inclusion, and shared success in the global payment landscape.

Both companies emphasized their dedication to collaboration and modernization. Visa stated that the settlement provides “meaningful relief and more options” for merchants, while Mastercard highlighted its focus on empowering small businesses with simplified rules and lower costs.

Importantly, neither company admitted wrongdoing — a testament to their proactive approach to resolving long-standing challenges.
Instead, the focus remains on creating sustainable, long-term partnerships between the payments industry and the business community.

Industry leaders also see the agreement as a milestone in fostering financial inclusivity. By ensuring a fairer, more transparent system, Visa and Mastercard are setting new global benchmarks for digital payment innovation and responsible business conduct.

This landmark decision not only benefits merchants but also enhances consumer trust in the evolving digital payments ecosystem.
It aligns with the broader movement toward cashless economies, secure transactions, and smarter financial infrastructure worldwide.

Through this settlement, Visa and Mastercard reaffirm their leadership in shaping the future of payments — one that values collaboration, innovation, and economic empowerment for all.

The result is a forward-looking model that strengthens businesses, protects consumers, and advances financial fairness on a global scale.

The policy shift was described by AP as a “vast expansion” of the Trump administration’s enhanced screening of people wanting to enter the U.S. Immigration advocates have decried the move as a potential impingement on privacy and First Amendment rights.

Previously, only a select number of visa applicants who’d been singled out for additional scrutiny had been required to submit their social media, email and phone number histories, AP noted. Under the new policy, however, only applicants for certain diplomatic and official visa types will be exempted from this requirement.

Almost 15 million visa applicants are expected to be impacted by the policy change. 

A State Department official told CNN that the new policy was borne from a memorandum issued by President Donald Trump in 2017, which called for the development of a “uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures.”

“We already request certain contact information, travel history, family member information, and previous addresses from all visa applicants,” the department said in a statement, per The New York Times.

“We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”

Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, said the new policy was a “dangerous and problematic proposal.”

It “does nothing to protect security concerns but raises significant privacy concerns and First Amendment issues for citizens and immigrants,” Shamsi told the Times. 

“Research shows that this kind of monitoring has chilling effects, meaning that people are less likely to speak freely and connect with each other in online communities that are now essential to modern life.”

Originally written by Dominique Mosbergen for Huffington Post India. Only Headlines Changed.