In 2022, US merchants paid a record $160.70 billion in processing fees to accept $10.589 trillion in payments from credit, debit and prepaid cards, according to the Nilson Report.
The total value of fees was up 16.7% from 2021, even though purchases for goods and services tied to all card payments grew by only 12.3% year-over-year.
“Merchants paid much more overall in 2022 because credit card spending made up a larger share and cost more to accept. Credit card spending increased 18.7% in 2022, more than three times the 5.5% growth rate of less costly debit cards,” said David Robertson, Publisher of the Nilson Report.
Looking at credit cards alone, purchase volume reached $5.758 trillion last year on cards carrying the American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa brands combined with store, gasoline, medical and other types of private label credit cards.
Merchants paid $126.35 billion in processing fees to accept those credit cards, up 20.2% from what they paid in 2021. As a percentage of total processing fees, including fees for debit and prepaid cards, credit cards accounted for 78.6%, up from 76.3% in 2021.
ABOUT THE NILSON REPORT
For more than 52 years, the Nilson Report has been the most respected provider of data and news about the payment card industry. Available worldwide by subscription only, the Nilson Report surveys over 2,000 financial institutions and other payment card businesses to produce statistics about card issuers, card networks, merchant acquirers and technology providers. This business intelligence is not available from any other source. The twice-monthly newsletter also includes informative feature articles, concise updates regarding new products and services, monthly listings of investments and acquisitions made by companies in the payment industry, and news about executive appointments.
