Your customers are likely using either a mobile payment option or a debit or credit card to pay for their purchases. In 2023, 78.3% of convenience store sales dollars were transacted with a card, and cards have been the most popular form of payment option at convenience stores for over a decade.

Cards are convenient for the consumer, but the fees associated with card payments are a strain on convenience retailers.

Credit card fees have been on the rise, and in 2023 fees paid by the industry topped $19.7 billion. While that is only a 1.0% increase from the year prior (likely tempered by a 11.3% decline in fuel prices and 3.0% drop in inside transaction count), this means swipe fees have risen a whopping 84.1% for the industry since 2020.

Credit card swipe fees are a percentage of the total transaction costs, which means when fuel prices rise and the cost of goods increase, these fees increase with them.

Swipe fees are also inflated by Visa and Mastercard’s market dominance, which remains relatively unchecked in the United States.

Without legislative action to reign in Visa and Mastercard, swipe fees will continue to be a growing operating expense. The NACS government relations team is fighting these fees through its advocacy of the Credit Card Competition Act, a bipartisan bill that would require the largest banks who use Visa or Mastercard’s network to put a second network on their cards, giving retailers a competitive routing choice.

CMSPI, a payments consultant, estimates the legislation would save the convenience store industry more than $10,000 per store annually.