NGA Warns OCC Action Undermines Competition on Swipe Fees

• April 27, 2026

Washington, D.C. - The National Grocers Association (NGA) today strongly condemned the action taken by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to issue an interim final rule and preemption order that would override the Illinois swipe fee reform law and block other states from enacting similar protections for Main Street businesses and consumers.

In response to the OCC's rule, NGA President and CEO Greg Ferrara said, "Independent grocers compete every single day for the trust and business of the families they serve. The OCC has now told the largest banks they don't have to compete at all. With one rushed rulemaking, the agency effectively flipped fifty years of policy and handed the biggest banks and the card networks permission to fix the fees that Main Street grocers and their customers are forced to pay. This stands in stark contrast to President Trump's own endorsement of fair competition when it comes to credit card interchange fees."

Independent grocers operate on razor-thin margins of 1 to 2 percent, while swipe fees, centrally fixed by the nation's biggest credit card networks and applied uniformly across issuing banks, have become one of the highest costs of doing business after labor. Grocers also act as agents of state and local governments in collecting sales and excise taxes. The Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, set to take effect this summer, prohibits the imposition of swipe fees on the tax and gratuity portions of any transaction in the state, and other states are considering similar reforms.

"It's inexcusable that independent grocers in Illinois are required to send a share of the sales tax dollars they collect for the state to the Wall Street banks and card networks," Ferrara said. "That is a tax on a tax, and Illinois lawmakers had every right to put a stop to it. The OCC should not be running interference for the largest banks after a Federal District Court already rejected their claims, which are now in front of a Federal Court of Appeals."

NGA called on the OCC to rescind the interim final rule and order, urged Congress to exercise vigorous oversight, and pledged to continue working with state officials, the courts, and a broad coalition of merchants and consumer advocates to defend fair competition in the payments market.

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About NGA

NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation's overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers' associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.