North Dakota Small Businesses Voice Concern over Health Care, Card Swipe Charges

The discussion organized by the North Dakota chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business focused on tax benefits for businesses through passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But when participants got a chance to speak, a majority of the business owners said health insurance costs and transaction fees are eating into their bottom lines.

Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association, said the association has been trying to fight credit card transaction fees for the last decade.

In 2025, about $198 billion was collected in swipe fees for credit and debit cards from American consumers, an increase of about $11 billion over 2024, according to Merchants Payments Coalition. The coalition began tracking transaction fees in 2009 when the swipe fees collected was $62 billion.