An enormous amount of commerce is conducted through credit card
transactions. In 2011, combined spending on all major branded
credit, debit, and prepaid cards was more than $3.5
trillion.1 Revenues from swipe fees (charges paid by
merchants to credit card companies and issuing banks for each
transaction) have increased as well in recent years as the volume
of credit card transactions and the amount of swipe fees themselves
have increased.2 Moreover, in the United States the
swipe fees are among the highest in the world - for example swipe
fees charged to U.S. merchants are more than five times higher than
such fees charged in most European countries.3
Those fees have attracted antitrust scrutiny that is bringing
major changes to the industry. The Antitrust Division of the
Department of Justice (the "DOJ"), private plaintiffs,
Congress, and regulators are all examining swipe fees and the
practices credit card companies require merchants to follow. In
several lawsuits,
