do merchants pay more when you use credit vs debit 
merchants tend to pay lower fees when the customer uses a debit card rather than a credit card according to the national retail federation swipe fees for credit cards average about 2 while fees for debit cards from the nation s largest banks are capped by the federal reserve at 21 cents per transaction plus 0 05 of the transaction amount debit cards from small banks it adds are exempt from that restriction 1