Credit-card companies are hiking a range of fees that U.S. merchants will pay to process transactions, a move likely to inflame already fractious relations between many businesses and card networks.
Visa Inc. V, +0.75% and Mastercard Inc., MA, +0.53% the two biggest U.S. card networks, are preparing increases to certain existing fees that will kick in this April, according to people familiar with the matter.
Some of the changes relate to so-called interchange fees. Card networks set the price of these fees, which merchants pay to banks when consumers shop with the cards they issue. Also due to rise are fees that card networks charge financial institutions for processing card payments on behalf of merchants.
