The American Bankers Association today joined 52 state bankers associations in voicing strong opposition to adding credit card routing mandates to an unrelated bill on stablecoins, calling the proposal a “poison pill amendment.” ABA also joined other national associations in a separate statement to denounce the proposal.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) yesterday filed a proposed amendment to add the text of the Credit Card Competition Act to the GENIUS Act, which would establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. Marshall and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are the authors of the CCCA, but so far they have failed to generate enough support among lawmakers to pass the legislation as a standalone bill.
In a joint letter to Senate leaders, the associations said the amendment would expand to credit cards on the routing requirements imposed by the Durbin amendment, which have proven harmful to consumers. The groups pointed to a 2022 report by the General Accountability Office that found if the Durbin amendment had not been implemented, 65% of noninterest checking accounts offered by covered banks would have been free. They also cited an economic analysis from Oxford Economics Research, an independent advisory firm, that found the Durbin-Marshall bill could cost the U.S. economy $228 billion and 156,000 jobs by eliminating rewards programs supporting travel and tourism nationwide.
“Expanding this failed policy to impose new regulations on credit card interchange fees will lead to similar consumer harm,” the associations said. “This legislation would limit credit access and upend credit card rewards programs, which are funded through interchange fees, with the worst effects being felt by minority and lower-income consumers.”
In a separate statement, ABA and other national associations emphasized that government intervention in the credit card market would disadvantage small businesses. They pointed to a 2024 paper by a University of Miami finance professor that found that almost all of the savings from the CCCA will accrue to retailers with $500 million or more in annual sales, with little going to small businesses.
“The legislation will do nothing to help small businesses – it will only entrench corporate megastores that already have a stranglehold on the retail market,” the associations said. “Congress should not mandate the reengineering of the entire credit card payments system just to benefit a small group of the largest merchants while causing small businesses to suffer.”
