ICBA is calling on community bankers to contact their members of Congress after legislation to allow large merchants to expand the power of the federal government to intervene in the U.S. credit card market was reintroduced in the Senate.
Amendment Introduced: Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) filed the ICBA-opposed Credit Card Competition Act as an amendment to the GENIUS Act (S. 1582), a bill to establish regulatory standards for the stablecoin market that is up for debate in the Senate this week.
About the Legislation: The amendment—which Marshall has introduced in previous Congresses with Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.)—would allow merchants to route credit card transactions on the network that is least costly to them without regard to safeguarding consumer information.
Grassroots Campaign: ICBA is urging community bankers to use its Be Heard grassroots action center to contact their lawmakers in opposition to the amendment. The customizable message to Congress notes the policy would put the profits of big-box retailers ahead of community banks and the consumers they serve.
ICBA Opposition: ICBA has strongly opposed the Durbin-Marshall bill, which was on the list of top lobbying issues for community bankers attending last week’s ICBA Capital Summit in the nation’s capital. In a letter to Congress earlier this year, ICBA and other groups warned Congress that the proposal would reduce choice, increase costs and fraud risks, create economic challenges for smaller financial institutions, and jeopardize the nation’s payment card system.
Broad Opposition: The amendment comes days after the release of University of Miami research that says such legislation would constrain the ability of community banks to extend credit, disproportionately affecting low-income households and ultimately tilting market power in favor of larger banks. Further, ICBA last year released polling conducted by Morning Consult that found more than 7 in 10 adults say changing the technology that is used to conduct credit transactions at the register is risky.
Outlook: ICBA will continue to work against the amendment and communicate to lawmakers that the measure would harm community banks, consumers, and the nation’s payments system.
