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Washington, D.C.—The American Building Materials Alliance (ABMA) applauds the current administration for endorsing the Credit Card Competition Act, a bipartisan effort to restore competition and transparency to a credit card system dominated by a Visa–Mastercard duopoly that has become a major driver of higher costs for small businesses and consumers nationwide.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW—LOCAL DEALERS WEIGH IN
• Hammond Lumber Company (Maine): ABMA’s Chair explains why credit card fees have been a long-standing priority for the organization and how rising costs threaten the ability of independent dealers to compete.
• Bethel Mills (Vermont): The oldest family-owned lumber and building materials dealer in the country describes the lack of transparency and accountability in interchange fees set by the Visa–Mastercard duopoly.
• Fairview Millwork (Massachusetts): A local dealer reports that credit card fees have grown into the third-largest cost of doing business, reshaping pricing and investment decisions.
• Saratoga Hardware (New York): A family-owned dealer explains how rising swipe fees are now affecting day-to-day operations and long-term planning.
• East Coast Lumber (New Hampshire): A single-location dealer details how credit card fees topped $400,000 last year, with costs projected to double if more customers shift to cards.
• Builder’s General Supply (New Jersey): An independent dealer underscores how competition drives fair pricing in the lumber and building materials industry—and why the lack of competition in the credit card market is the root problem.
• Residential Building Supply (Florida): A family-owned dealer details how unchecked credit card fees leave small businesses with no leverage and no real options in how payments are processed.
This issue has been a priority for ABMA for several years. The Alliance has consistently advocated for the Credit Card Competition Act because the imbalance is stark: locally owned and independent lumber and building material dealers operate on average profit margins of five percent or less, while major credit card companies report margins in excess of fifty percent. These unchecked, non-negotiable fees set in a market with little meaningful competition are no longer just a cost of doing business. They are coming directly at the expense of local jobs, family-owned businesses, reinvestment, and the ability of independent dealers to remain competitive.
“Our members have been raising this issue for years because it goes to the heart of whether independent businesses can continue to compete,” said Rod Wiles, Chair of ABMA and Vice President of Human Resources at Hammond Lumber Company in Maine. “ABMA’s role is to bring those real-world impacts to Washington. This endorsement recognizes that this isn’t just a business issue—it’s an affordability issue affecting dealers across the country.”
Swipe Fees: Rapid Growth, Real Consequences
Credit card “swipe” fees, also known as interchange fees, have grown at an unprecedented pace, fueled by a payments market controlled by just two dominant networks. Over the past decade, credit card swipe fees have nearly tripled from $39.1 billion in 2014 to a record $187.2 billion in 2024. That growth has accelerated since the pandemic, with fees increasing more than 70 percent in just the last few years, including a jump from $172 billion in 2023 to $187.2 billion in 2024 alone.
The average swipe fee rate charged by Visa and Mastercard now stands at approximately 2.35 percent of each transaction, up from 2.02 percent in 2010. These costs ripple through the economy and are ultimately paid by consumers—costing the average American family nearly $1,200 per year in higher prices.
“For businesses like ours, the problem isn’t just the size of the fees—it’s the lack of transparency,” said Claudia Homan of Bethel Mills in Vermont, the oldest family-owned lumber and building materials dealer in the country. “Interchange fees are vague, constantly changing, and impossible to challenge. In a duopoly, there’s no real way to question or negotiate them.”
A Growing Burden on Main Street
For many ABMA members, swipe fees have quietly become one of the largest costs of doing business.
“Credit card fees are now the third-largest cost of doing business for us,” said Jay Mahoney of Fairview Millwork in Massachusetts. “That kind of growth, especially in a low-margin industry, affects everything—pricing, hiring, and whether you can invest in your business.”
“In New Jersey, the lumber and building materials industry consists of mostly independent and family-owned small businesses. Credit card fees have become a top “cost of doing business” expense, behind payroll and health care, that squeezes a lot of profit out of our bottom line. It is simply a slow death by a thousand cuts scenario to survive as a small business in NJ.” — TJ Shaheen of Builders General Supply in New Jersey.
“To remain competitive in the Central Florida market, we are constantly evaluating our costs of doing business, and swipe fees, which totaled nearly $400,000 last year alone, are one expense we have little to no control over,” said Dan Pugh, of Residential Building Supply in Florida. “Our choices are to stop accepting credit cards or pass those costs on to our customers. Either option creates friction with long-term clients who increasingly rely on credit cards for payment. It leaves small businesses like ours with virtually no options and no leverage in how these payments are processed.”
Others report that rising fees are now affecting daily operations and long-term planning.
“These costs have reached a point where they’re influencing how we operate,” said Louise Eddy of Saratoga Quality Hardware in New York. “When fees continue to climb in a system with no real competition, it limits reinvestment and puts pressure on staffing, pricing, and overall operations.”
The impact is particularly severe for small, single-location businesses.
“We’re a single-location dealer, and last year our credit card fees topped $400,000,” said Eric Murphy of East Coast Lumber in New Hampshire. “That doesn’t even include our largest customers, who still pay by check. If those customers moved to credit cards, our fees would easily double. That’s not sustainable for a business like ours.”
Why Competition—Not Settlements—Is Needed
Rather than reducing fees through competition, Visa and Mastercard announced a proposed $38 billion settlement in November 2025 aimed at slightly lowering and temporarily capping swipe fees. The deal would reduce average fees from 2.35 percent to 2.25 percent and cap them for five years.
Many retailers view the settlement as insufficient, coming after years of record-high fee increases and leaving fee-setting power concentrated in the hands of the same dominant networks.
“The settlement underscores the problem,” Wiles added. “After decades of unchecked growth under a duopoly, a marginal reduction doesn’t fix a system where fees are centrally set and continue to rise faster than inflation. That’s why legislative action is necessary.”
The Credit Card Competition Act would require large financial institutions to enable at least one additional, unaffiliated payment network on credit cards—introducing real competition while preserving consumer choice and security.
A Step Forward—Not the Finish Line
ABMA views the Credit Card Competition Act as a critical step forward, but not the end of the conversation.
“This legislation is an important start, but more will need to be done to rein in a system that has allowed costs to spiral for years,” said Wiles. “This administration’s endorsement recognizes the urgency of the problem.”
ABMA thanks President Trump for recognizing the real-world impact swipe fees have on small businesses, workers, and families, and looks forward to continuing to work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to advance reforms that strengthen competition, protect affordability, and restore balance to the payments system.
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About the ABMA The American Building Materials Alliance (ABMA), established in August 2021, is a committee of unified voices advocating on behalf of the lumber and building materials (LBM) industry at the federal level. ABMA currently represents LBM dealers and associated businesses in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. The mission of the ABMA is to advance, shape, and influence policy in all branches of government. We work directly with members of Congress, the White House, and federal agencies to impact the legislative and regulatory process as it affects the LBM industry. ABMA is powered by the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association (NRLA) and Florida Building Material Association (FBMA).
