Advocacy win: Marshall will not offer amendment at markup

Reports indicate that Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has agreed not to offer a reworked version of his credit card mandate bill as an amendment to cryptocurrency legislation during the Senate Agriculture Committee’s scheduled markup Thursday. 

“America’s Credit Unions, leagues, and credit unions worked hard to keep Senator Marshall’s credit card swipe fee amendment off of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s crypto bill. But, as we have said, attempting to attach these credit card mandates to a cryptocurrency bill does not change the underlying facts,” said America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson. “The Credit Card Competition Act is bad policy that would disrupt a secure and well-functioning credit card system in ways that hurt consumers and small financial institutions while delivering a windfall to the largest retailers in the country. Forcing routing mandates into the payments system increases fraud risk, weakens consumer protections, and ultimately limits access to affordable credit for millions of credit union members. Lawmakers should continue to reject efforts to revive this flawed policy.” 

Marshall filed the proposed amendment Friday, which repackaged his Credit Card Competition Act.  Working together, America’s Credit Unions and leagues began engaging with committee members in strong opposition. In an op-ed published over the weekend, Simpson detailed why the updated bill is more harmful to consumers and small businesses than the CCCA.

Efforts to oppose the Credit Card Competition Act are ongoing, with continued outreach informing Senators, including Senate Agriculture Committee members, about the negative impact. America’s Credit Unions is closely following the markup for any additional efforts to bring up the issue.

For more information about the Durbin-Marshall credit card mandates and how it would hurt consumers by disrupting credit card processing – including interchange, fraud protections, and access to credit -  visit our Resource Library.