ICBA expressed its strong opposition to newly reintroduced legislation to impose routing mandates on credit card transactions.
Bill Details: Introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), the Credit Card Competition Act (S. 1838) would require banks with more than $100 billion in assets to offer merchants at least two networks to process credit cards, at least one of which cannot be owned by Visa or Mastercard.
ICBA Release: In a national news release, ICBA said the bill would reduce access to credit, weaken cybersecurity protections, and eliminate funding for popular credit cards rewards programs. “Applying routing restrictions to credit card transactions would expand the Durbin Amendment’s government-orchestrated transfer of income from consumers to the nation’s largest retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said.
Background: ICBA has repeatedly campaigned against extending Durbin Amendment routing mandates to credit cards, with Congress last year keeping similar legislation out of its end-of-year omnibus spending bill following ICBA and community banker advocacy.
Public Opposition: ICBA polling conducted by Morning Consult last year indicates consumers oppose the policy change, with 61% of Americans saying consumers would not benefit from overhauling the card networks, including a bipartisan majority of Democrats (52%), independents (67%), and Republicans (65%).
