U.S. payment landscape shifts amid fee disputes and cash rounding

The consumer payment landscape is undergoing significant shifts driven by regulatory challenges, changing currency usage, and rising processing costs. In the United States, a legal battle is progressing in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the Federal Reserve’s debit interchange fee cap. The case, Linney’s Pizza v. the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, seeks to determine if the Fed included ineligible expenses in its cost calculations, a decision that could impact revenue for major issuers like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.

Following the end of penny production by the U.S. Mint, merchants are increasingly adopting cash rounding practices to the nearest nickel. The bipartisan Common Cents Act has passed both chambers of Congress to provide federal guidance for this rounding, though it still requires reconciliation between the House and Senate.

Simultaneously, credit card surcharges are rising as merchants attempt to offset payment processing fees, which averaged 2.35 percent of purchase prices in 2024. While Visa and Mastercard have permitted surcharges since 2013, adoption has accelerated as cash usage continues to decline. In a related technological shift, Visa CEO Ryan McInerney noted that while artificial intelligence is being used for consumer shopping and product comparison, autonomous agentic payments have not yet seen widespread adoption.