CUs, League Note Opposition to Interchange Bill in Meeting Sen. Tim Kaine

Representatives from Apple FCU, BayPort CU and Loudon CU joined the League for a meeting with Sen. Tim Kaine on Capitol Hill today. A key topic of conversation was the credit union-opposed Credit Card Competition Act, which will be the subject of a hearing next month by the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Our "Hike The Hill" efforts are off to a fast start today! Credit union and League representatives met with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to discuss our legislative priorities, including our opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act, a measure that would alter the current interchange system and negatively impact credit unions' ability to fight fraud.

A hearing on the Credit Card Competition Act is scheduled for April 9 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and your League has been actively engaged with the offices of Sens. Warner and Kaine, touting our opposition to the measure.

The Credit Card Competition Act (S.1838) would require cards from financial institutions with $100 billion or more of assets to offer merchants the choice of two unaffiliated card networks that aren't both Visa and Mastercard. We maintain that passage of the measure will negatively impact consumers and the financial services industry as whole.

“Legislative and regulatory measures, like the Credit Card Competition Act, represent a significant threat to the credit union business model by stripping us of needed resources to address the ever-rising costs of fraud and provide members with the consumer-friendly products and services they expect from their credit union,” said League Chief Advocacy Officer JT Blau. “Any change to the current credit card interchange system will only benefit the nation’s big-box retailers at the expense of consumers. What’s more, any regulation that targets the industry’s major players will, in time, impact every financial institution. We need only look to the decade-old regulation governing debit card interchange for proof of that fact.”

Support Our Advocacy Efforts: Email Lawmakers in Opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act

You can support this week's advocacy efforts in Washington by emailing lawmakers in opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act! You can easily do so here. Please encourage your co-workers, volunteer officials and members to do the same. Derailing the Credit Card Competition Act is a legislative priority for the League, and we again communicated our opposition to the measure during our meetings this week.  

Related: League Engaged with Sens. Warner, Kaine Ahead of April 9 Hearing on Credit Card Competition Act