Trump Targets Card Swipe Fees After Interest Rate Threats

First President Donald Trump targeted the interest rates credit-card companies levy against US consumers. Now he’s targeting the interchange fees that merchants must pay to tap, swipe and insert their cards at checkout by endorsing a measure on Capitol Hill that aims to boost competition among payment networks.

Trump called on lawmakers in a social media post early Tuesday to support legislation known as the Credit Card Competition Act, a bipartisan measure that would require larger banks to offer retailers the ability to bypass dominant networks Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. for transactions, taking direct aim at what has been a lucrative business model. Shares of Visa and Mastercard were down at least 4% at 12:50 p.m. in New York Tuesday. American Express Co. shares were 0.7% lower.