Walmart Opposes Visa-Mastercard Antitrust Settlement

Walmart and several other large U.S. retailers are asking a federal judge to reject the latest proposed antitrust settlement with Visa and Mastercard, arguing it offers only minimal fee relief while locking in broad legal protections for the card networks.​

What the settlement would do

The proposed deal, announced in November 2025, is intended to end about two decades of litigation over so‑called “swipe fees” that merchants pay when customers use Visa or Mastercard credit cards. It would lower typical credit card interchange fees by about 0.1 percentage point for five years, from current levels generally around 2% to 2.5% per transaction.​

Why Walmart and others object

Walmart says the settlement would force large merchants to give up antitrust claims for around eight years without delivering the “core reforms” they have sought to card-network rules. In particular, critics say the deal preserves the “honor‑all‑cards” rule, which requires merchants that accept any Visa or Mastercard credit cards to accept all of their cards, limiting merchants’ ability to steer customers to cheaper payment options.​

Broader retailer and industry criticism

Trade groups such as the National Retail Federation and Retail Industry Leaders Association call the proposed changes “illusory reforms” that would leave the basic fee‑setting structure intact. Opponents also highlight that a handful of small businesses negotiated the deal on behalf of a class of roughly 20 million merchants, including large chains representing about 2.7 trillion dollars in annual sales, and warn that the settlement could undermine related government and private antitrust cases targeting Visa and Mastercard’s debit and credit practices.​

Visa and Mastercard’s response

Visa and Mastercard deny wrongdoing and maintain that the settlement would provide meaningful relief and more flexibility for merchants of all sizes. They argue the agreement is the best way to resolve the long‑running dispute while giving businesses more options in how they manage card acceptance and associated costs.​

What happens next

A federal judge in Brooklyn will decide whether to approve, modify, or reject the settlement. If the judge rejects it, litigation over interchange fees and network rules will continue; if approved, the deal could shape the economics and legal landscape of card processing for years, including for large retailers like Walmart.​

Merchants argue the settlement is insufficient because it offers only a very small, temporary fee cut while forcing them to give up broad legal claims and leaving the core card-network rules that drive high fees largely unchanged.​

Limited fee relief

The deal is expected to reduce typical credit card interchange fees by only about 0.1 percentage point and only for five years, which large retailers say is trivial relative to what they pay annually in “swipe fees.” Walmart and other chains argue that locking in such a modest reduction for a short period does not meaningfully lower long‑term operating costs or change the economics of card acceptance.​

Broad legal releases

In exchange, large merchants would have to release antitrust claims for around eight years, effectively giving Visa and Mastercard extended legal protection from many future challenges over credit‑card fees and rules. Retailers say this trade‑off is lopsided, because it bars them from pursuing more meaningful reforms through the courts while providing only minimal, time‑limited financial benefit.​

Rules that stay in place

The settlement leaves in place key network rules, including the “honor‑all‑cards” requirement that forces merchants who accept any Visa or Mastercard credit card to accept all of their cards. Merchants contend that keeping these rules intact prevents them from steering customers toward lower‑cost cards or other payment methods and therefore fails to address the main drivers of high interchange fees.​

Representation and enforcement concerns

National retailers also complain that the deal was negotiated by a small group of local businesses on behalf of about 20 million merchants, including large chains with trillions in annual sales, and does not reflect the interests of big players most affected by the rules. They further warn that court approval could weaken or complicate ongoing government and private antitrust actions aimed at reshaping card network practices, closing off avenues for stronger future reforms.​