Industry Leaders Reflect on Major Stories That Altered the Credit Card Ecosystem in 2025

Major events unfolded this year that impacted, and will likely continue to affect, the credit card industry. While experts may not have predicted all of the ups and downs in the card space in 2025, with the benefit of hindsight we have a better grasp on how these developments shaped the credit card ecosystem.

As we approach the end of another year, CardRates sat down with leaders in the payments space to hear their perspectives on some of 2025’s biggest stories in the credit card arena.

A dispute that started 20 years ago may soon come to an end as Visa and Mastercard are working toward an agreement with merchants over swipe fees. 

The settlement stands to bring financial relief to merchants, and it also gives them more flexibility about the types of card payments they choose to accept. In addition, the agreement paves the way for merchants to impose fees on credit card transactions in a transparent way.

“This is a perfect opportunity for a point-of-sale provider to have a variable surcharge that is contingent on the type of card that’s being utilized,” Ken Musante, Founder and President of Napa Payments Consulting, told us. 

“The surcharge can be displayed on the receipt at the time of the transaction,” Musante added. “If it’s a high-value rewards card, it might have a 3% charge. If it’s a lower-value card, it might have a 1.5% fee.”

Merchants opposed to charging customers a fee for paying with credit cards could simply refuse to accept certain types of cards, but that presents its own set of problems.

The proposed settlement opens the door for merchants to refuse to accept certain credit cards.

“I read an article where a merchant group said they weren’t going to suddenly stop accepting people’s Chase Sapphire Reserve cards,” Matthew Goldman, Founder and Managing Member of Totavi, told us. “I think that’s a huge point because those people can also be the biggest spenders.”

Rewards credit cards are popular payment tools in the U.S., and imposing a surcharge when a customer elects to pay for a purchase with their rewards card could lead to awkward interactions at the cash register.

“I would not want to be a merchant who is trying that and then having to look my customers in the eye,” Dave Grossman, Founder and CEO at MilesTalk and Your Best Credit Cards, told us. 

Some experts believe the parties involved in the dispute may make amendments to the terms of the proposed settlement before everyone agrees on it.

“I think they’re just going to continue to put proposals out there to try to find a middle ground,” Tony DeSanctis, Senior Director at Cornerstone Advisors, told us. “I just don’t know if this is the one.”

Capital One completed its purchase of Discover in May. The deal increased Capital One’s firepower, giving the company the biggest credit card loan portfolio among bank holding companies in the U.S., according to American Banker.

The union between the two companies positions Capital One to leverage Discover’s considerable strengths.

“Discover has a global network in more than 100 different countries,” Brian Riley, Director of Credit Advisory Services and Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, told us. “So there’s something brewing there that’s going to be really interesting three to four years down the road.”

Riley isn’t the only expert we spoke to looking forward to seeing how Capital One makes use of the tools it acquired in the deal.

Experts are curious to see how Capital One makes use of the assets it acquired in its purchase of Discover.

“The Discover and Capital One merger is huge,” Goldman told us. “I think we’re all still waiting to see what it will mean. And what will Capital One do with the Discover network, which is an amazing asset.”

The credit card industry will be watching closely to see which moves Capital One takes next. But the fact that these two prominent payments players joined forces in 2025 makes one wonder if similar unions will arrive in 2026.

“There’s no recent playbook for this,” Jason Steele, Freelance Writer and Founder of CardCon, told us. “Mergers in the credit card industry are somewhat rare. Unlike a lot of other industries, you just don’t see these couplings happen too much.”

The effects of inflation and a tightening labor market may have led some consumers to scale back on purchases in 2025, but industry leaders noted that many people took economic setbacks in stride this year.

“We’ve seen consumers be quite resilient,” Doug Villone, Head of US Cards and Partnerships at Barclays U.S. Consumer Bank, told us. “Obviously, it’s been a year that has had some choppiness, but ultimately, we see a consumer who still has a sound balance sheet and is continuing to spend on the things that are important to them.”

Credit card issuers formulating growth strategies for the year ahead will want to keep a close eye on their portfolios to understand which consumer segments are spending more than others. 

“There’s a lot of talk about this K-shaped economy concept, and I think they’re saying that almost half of consumer spending comes from the top 10% of families,” Goldman told us.

Multiple events impacted the credit card ecosystem in 2025. The CardRates team will continue to track these stories, as well as other major card news that breaks in 2026. And you can also count on us to cover smaller developments that stand to influence the credit card arena as the year unfolds.