Americans are anticipated to spend around $15 billion on Independence Day supplies such as food, drinks, and fireworks this year. According to the Electronic Payments Coalition, if these purchases were made using credit cards instead of cash, American businesses could save between $366 million and $718 million.
Average credit card processing rates have remained steady at just over 2% for the past decade, currently standing at about 2.3%. In contrast, cash processing can range from more than 4% to as high as 15.5%, according to retail industry analysis by the IHL Group.
Richard Hunt, Executive Chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition, stated, "The acceptance of credit cards not only fuels retail sales, it also actually saves small businesses money and their employees and customers time." He highlighted the evolution from reliance on physical cash in 1776 to today's use of card networks and financial institutions that aid economic growth.
Cost factors associated with cash processing include labor hours spent counting and sorting cash, security costs, potential fraud and theft risks, and decreased sales. These insights were shared in a blog post by the Small Business Enterprise Council.
The data sources referenced include Nilson's weighted credit card MDR report from 2025 and an IHL Group study from 2018 titled "Cash Multipliers: How reducing the costs of cash handling can enable retailer sales and profit growth."
There is a belief that investing in new technologies and creating national data security standards will strengthen the payment system.