A proposed bill that would allow merchants to control how banks process credit card transactions would be a pain for consumers, small businesses and community banks trying to meet the needs of their customers, Shan Hanes, CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas, and board chair of the Kansas Bankers Association, said today in an op-ed for the Topeka-Capital Journal. S. 4674, introduced by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), would benefit big box stores and ecommerce platforms at the expense of everyone else, he said.
“Kansas consumers will see their popular credit card rewards programs scaled back or end,” he said. “Even if their issuer offers rewards, there’s no guarantee merchants will pick a network that credits them for their eligible benefits. More troubling, Kansans will not know if the merchant is relying on a payment network that skimps on security and compromises their data.”
Small businesses would also feel the pain, Hanes said. “They will need to learn how to implement multiple payment options for each transaction as required by the government and train management and staff on the multiple new systems. They will need to explain to customers why they didn’t get the right reward points from their transactions or why their rewards programs went away altogether.”
