The Electronic Payments Coalition has launched a new ad campaign to highlight the opposition of a wide range of community institutions against a proposed credit card routing bill. If enacted, the Credit Card Competition Act that was introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) would cause many community banks and credit unions would retreat from card issuance, the coalition said.
The new campaign will educate lawmakers about the negative effects that the proposed credit card routing mandates would have on smaller financial institutions. It will also call out the failure of the legislation’s so-called “carve-out” for community banks and credit unions.
“This misguided legislation is a major threat to the thousands of community banks we represent and the customers and communities they serve,” ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols said. “Without the revenue they receive for their investment in the payments system, many community banks would be forced to reconsider whether they can even afford to offer credit cards to their customers at all. This is a regressive bill that takes from consumers, community financial institutions and small businesses and gives to the largest and most profitable retailers and grocery chains, all of which benefit tremendously from the safety, efficiency and convenience of today’s modern payments system. Congress should reject this bad idea.”
