Card Payments Save Small Businesses $350M+ This Independence Day

According to retail industry research, processing cash is more costly for businesses than accepting credit cards

Americans are expected to spend approximately $15 billion this year on Independence Day supplies like food, drinks and fireworks. If all these purchases were made with credit cards compared to cash only, American businesses would save anywhere from $366 million to $718 million according to calculations by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

Average credit card processing rates, according to Nilson¹, have remained virtually flat at slightly more than 2% for the last decade. The most recent processing rate is about 2.3% compared to more than 4% to as much as 15.5% for cash processing according to retail industry analysis from the IHL Group².

“The acceptance of credit cards not only fuels retail sales, it also actually saves small businesses money and their employees and customers time,” said Electronic Payments Coalition Executive Chairman Richard Hunt. “A lot of things have changed since 1776 when our forefathers had to rely on physical cash for purchases and quill pens to sign the Declaration of Independence. Luckily for small businesses today, America’s card networks and credit card issuing financial institutions work with consumers and businesses to help drive our economy – and this Independence Day allow families to buy hotdogs for their backyard BBQs with the tap of a card instead of signing a check with a feather.”

By The Numbers: Breaking Down Independence Day Spending & Potential Savings:  

1. $15 Billion: What Americans spend approximately on Independence Day – including spending on food, drinks and fireworks.
2. $718 million – $1.07 billion: Processing costs for retailers if all purchases were made with cash using Nilson and IHL data assumptions.
3. $351 million: Processing costs for retailers if all purchases were made with credit cards.
4. $366 – $718 million in Savings: Business savings if all Independence Day purchases were made with credit cards instead of cash.

Cost multipliers associated with cash processing include labor hours spent counting and sorting cash; security costs; potential for fraud; theft; and decreased sales, according to a recent blog post from the Small Business Enterprise Council.

¹ Based on a weighted credit card MDR of 2.30%. Nilson (2025), Issue 1281.

² IHL Group (2018), “Cash Multipliers: How reducing the costs of cash handling can enable retailer sales and profit growth.” Estimate uses average cost of cash for Food & Grocery (ex. Kroger), Warehouse Club (ex. Walmart) and Mass Merchant (ex. Target) retail categories.