The legislation now needs to pass the State Senate and be signed by the governor.

March 20, 2025

On Wednesday, the Colorado House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit payment card networks from setting fee schedules for card issuers, charging swipe fees on taxes or gratuities, requiring merchants to “honor all cards” and charging fees to consumers or merchants for dispute resolutions until the dispute has been resolved. The legislation, sponsored in the House by Representatives Max Brooks (R) and William Lindstedt (D), passed with a bipartisan vote of 43-21, and is the most wide-ranging state swipe fee bill to start moving through the legislative process this year. Wednesday’s vote followed a successful vote of 9-3 in the House Finance Committee last week.

The bill, HB25-1282, would stop several anti-competitive practices that are at the heart of the cartel activity engaged in by Visa, Mastercard and their member banks. By preventing price-fixing and tying acceptance of some cards to acceptance of all cards, the bill would make credit card banks compete for merchant business like other companies are required to do in free market economies.

The bill would also address some of the most unfair aspects of swipe fees by preventing fees from being charged on the tax and tip portions of transactions and by preventing the card networks from prematurely grabbing merchants’ money without any real determination that a card was used fraudulently. The legislation also takes the additional step of capping swipe fees on charitable donations made using debit or credit cards.

This legislation would be the second law in the nation restricting payment card networks from charging swipe fees on tax and tips. Last year, Illinois passed similar legislation that is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2025. The bill must pass the State Senate, where it also enjoys bipartisan sponsorship, and then be signed by the governor. The timing of a potential vote in the Senate is unclear at this time.

Nationally, swipe fees continue to be one of the largest expenses for convenience retailers, and the numbers continue to climb. The Merchants Payments Coalition noted that swipe fees in 2024 totaled $187.2 billion across all of retail, a $15 billion increase over 2023. In Congress, NACS continues to advocate for the passage of the Credit Card Competition Act, which would inject needed competition into the swipe fee market.