New York, January 15, 2026, 11:28 EST — Regular session
- Mastercard shares slipped following a UK judge’s ruling that upheld the regulator’s authority to cap specific cross-border card fees
- The ruling intensifies the fee pressure that global card networks are already facing
- Traders are keeping an eye on the ongoing U.S. policy debates over credit card rates and fees
Mastercard shares dropped 0.4% to $544.6 in late morning trading following a UK High Court decision siding with Britain’s payments regulator to cap some cross-border card fees. Visa gained 0.3%, while American Express inched up 0.1%. 1
The decision shines a light on just how much wiggle room the major card networks have to hold their ground on fees, even as the focus moves from merchants to regulators. It arrives at a tricky moment, with investors hunting for any signs that could hit cross-border volumes or pricing.
Policy news has rattled stocks. Mastercard dropped 3.8% on Tuesday amid a broader selloff in financial shares sparked by worries over President Donald Trump’s credit-card plan. One strategist noted the proposal is “still out there,” despite seeming tough to put into action. 2
Banks have pushed back strongly against the proposal. JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum described a 10% cap on credit card interest rates as “very bad for consumers” and “very bad for the economy,” cautioning that it would likely lead lenders to tighten credit, Reuters reported. According to the Federal Reserve, the average credit card interest rate in November was 20.97%. 3
The UK case is more focused than the broader U.S. rate debate, zeroing in on a familiar point of contention: what merchants and regulators consider excessive fees in the payments chain. “Interchange” is the fee charged on a card purchase that moves through the system; cross-border interchange applies to transactions crossing borders, like Europeans shopping online from UK retailers.
Analyst moves have varied. On January 13, Compass Point raised Mastercard from “neutral” to “buy,” a shift noted in a Nasdaq report. 4
The immediate fallout from the UK ruling remains uncertain. The court left the cap’s level and timing undefined, and the stock’s movement indicates investors are wrestling with how tough regulators will be and how deeply any fee squeeze will hit earnings.
Outside the legal battle, Mastercard’s brand and partnerships pressed on. Mexico’s Fincomun announced plans to collaborate with Accion and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to harness alternative data for creating credit products aimed at small businesses. Mastercard executive Jonathan Fantini-Porter described small businesses as “the backbone of the economy.” 5
Mastercard plans to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings on January 29, with a conference call scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. 6
