Trump Backs the Credit-Card Fee Bill: What S.3623 Would Change
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have endorsed the Credit Card Competition Act, backing a bill aimed at the billions of dollars in credit-card fees.
The endorsement was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 8, 2026, under the headline "The Credit-Card Bill That Banks Fear Most Has Gained Trump as an Ally."
In the 119th Congress, the Senate bill is S.3623 with the legislative status Introduced. The House companion is H.R. 7035. Sen. Roger Marshall is listed on the Congress.gov page for S.3623. The text would amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to write regulations on network competition in credit-card transactions. Network competition means merchants would have more than one network to route a payment, like choosing between delivery firms. Interchange, or swipe fees, are the fees merchants pay to accept cards. Issuers are banks that issue cards. Acquirers handle payments for merchants.
Trump earlier called for a one-year cap on credit-card interest rates at 10% effective Jan. 20, 2026, according to Reuters. He then targeted credit-card interchange fees after targeting interest rates, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 13. The White House was weighing executive action for the rate-cap call, Reuters reported on Jan. 16. Trump reiterated support for policies to cut fees tied to credit cards, as reported by Payments Dive on Sept. 10. The October endorsement puts the interchange fight in legislation rather than executive action alone.
The broader context here is how the two tracks fit together. Merchants dislike the billions in fees, while banks use those fees to fund rewards, as described by the Wall Street Journal. Congress would set direction and the Federal Reserve would write the details. For issuers, acquirers, merchants and networks, those details would decide compliance costs, routing options, and who keeps interchange revenue. Less interchange leaves issuers with less revenue for rewards funding, credit losses and operating margin. Keeping interchange high leaves merchant acceptance costs elevated. A rate cap covers the price of revolving credit, carrying a balance month to month. A network rule covers the wholesale cost stores pay to accept cards. Issuers manage both together through net interest income, earnings from interest, and noninterest income, earnings from fees. Pressure on both at once would squeeze lending and rewards math more than either alone. Endorsement is not enactment.
Looking at what this means for savers, borrowers and investors, the process still controls timing. Introduced bills need committee action, floor time and agreement with the House companion before any mandate reaches the Federal Reserve. White House backing changes the odds but not the status. For credit investors, the near-term variable is headline risk around issuer fee income. For equity holders in the payments chain, the question is how any final regulation shifts value between issuance and acceptance. For merchants, the question is whether lower acceptance costs materialize and how quickly acquirers pass them through. Endorsement raises attention. It does not set rates, timelines or exemptions. Those would come, if they come, through legislative markup and then Federal Reserve rulemaking under the amended Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
