June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., already squeezed by new U.S. curbs on how credit cards are marketed to consumers, are girding for a renewed battle over $48 billion in fees levied on merchants.

Lawmakers are promising new rules to bring down the interchange fee, a charge on purchases sometimes topping 3 percent that’s split by the two banks serving the customer and merchant. Supporters of the legislation include the biggest retail chains, restaurants and small businesses, which say the fees erode profit and inflate prices.

The debate pits the largest card lenders including JPMorgan and the two biggest payment networks, Visa and MasterCard, against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. Interchange is the second-biggest cost after payroll, Target said, and merchants want to negotiate lower payments collectively without running afoul of antitrust law.

“The real question is whether the government is going to jump in and get into the game of price control in the free market,” Chris McWilton, MasterCard’s U.S. markets president, told investors at a June 4 conference. San Francisco-based Visa said June 5 the legislation would raise consumer costs and cut rewards. A similar bill failed last year, the firm said.

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Visa, WalMart, Wal-Mart, Interchange, Lawmakers, JPMorgan Chase & Co, MasterCard, Interchange Fee, Target