Retail sales during this year’s recession-plagued holiday season are expected to decline from last year, but credit card companies and their banks are expected to rake in nearly $5 billion in hidden "swipe" fees, according to the National Retail Federation.

Consumers are expected to spend $437.6 billion on holiday gifts and other general merchandise during the holiday shopping season – a drop of 1 percent from last year – and that 70 percent of those purchases will be paid for with credit cards or debit cards, the National Retail Federation estimates.

Based on the 1.62 percent average interchange rate cited by Visa in a recent advertising campaign, that would amount to $4.96 billion in interchange collections during the period. While Visa said the 1.62 percent rate has remained stable for 10 years, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report that interchange rates have been rising.

"This year the big banks and credit card companies are playing Grinch again, taking billions of dollars from retailers and their customers at a time when both can least afford it," said Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel of NRF and chairman of the Merchants Payments Coalition. "If Congress is wondering what would be a good present for American consumers, the answer is interchange reform."

Interchange is a fee Visa and MasterCard banks charge merchants every time a credit card is swiped to pay for a transaction, according to NRF.

"For many businesses, the cost of swipe fees is the largest non-labor cost they face, and swipe fees are rising faster than any other costs," Duncan said.