WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2026) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued the following statement from Director of Federal Government Relations Josh McLeod regarding a federal judge’s preliminary approval of the proposed Visa and Mastercard anti-trust settlement:

“Small businesses welcome any relief from the excessive swipe fees they have been paying for too long. However, the preliminary approval of this ‘settlement’ does not solve the root problem of these long-term, anti-competitive rate-setting practices. As long as Visa and Mastercard set the interchange rates for every bank that issues a credit card, anti-competitive pricing will remain, and small businesses will continue to get gouged on swipe fees. We are disappointed by this preliminary approval and instead urge Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to allow market forces and real competition to set the interchange rates.”

NFIB urges Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act, which would allow small business owners to choose between multiple credit card network options. Ninety-two percent of NFIB members believe that small business owners should have the right to pick among multiple credit card processing networks.

###