Payments

Credit card swipe fees will drive up cost on back-to-school supplies

Adobe Stock

August 3, 2026

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Credit card swipe fees, charged by banks to process card transactions, is expected to drive up the price of school and college supplies by a record-setting $3.4 billion this year.

The fees could cost the average family as much as $34, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition.

"With swipe fees rising year after year, this hidden tax undermines affordability and drains money from families that need it," MPC Executive Committee member and National Association of Convenience Stores General Counsel Doug Kantor said in a press release. "A family could buy superhero lunchboxes for two kids or a backpack for their college sophomore with the money credit card companies are swiping from them. Congress should protect families trying to deal with the high cost of putting their children through school by passing the Credit Card Competition Act."

Averaging 2.36% of the transaction but ranging as high as 4%, swipe fees are most merchants' highest operating cost after labor and are typically built into pricing.

Families are expected to spend an average $864 on K-12 school supplies, clothing and related items for a total of $43.3 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

While a precise amount is difficult to calculate, MPC estimates swipe fees account for $20 of the per-family cost and $1.02 billion of the total.

Swipe fees for Visa and Mastercard credit cards alone have more than quadrupled since 2010 to $118.8 billion last year, and total credit and debit card swipe fees hit a record $198.25 billion, driving up prices by more than $1,200 a year for the average family.

The impact on school spending comes as Congress is considering the Credit Card Competition Act. Under the bill, banks with at least $100 billion in assets would enable credit cards to be processed over at least one unaffiliated network like Star, NYCE or Shazam in addition to Visa or Mastercard.

The measure is expected to result in competition over fees, security and service that would save merchants and their customers $17 billion a year.