Amicus brief urges court to reverse ruling on interchange rule

In a case challenging the Federal Reserve’s debit interchange fee rule, America’s Credit Unions joined together with a group of financial trade organizations in support of the Federal Reserve in urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to reverse a lower court decision. In 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota ruled in favor of the retailers in a decision that would drastically lower interchange fee caps. The group filed an amicus brief in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, arguing that the district court’s decision does not align with the text, structure, and purpose of the statute and would force the Federal Reserve to impose interchange fee caps far below the actual costs incurred by debit card issuers.

The brief warns that this ruling would threaten the viability of the U.S. debit card payments system, which currently provides consumers with security, efficiency and widely accepted payment options through credit unions and other card issuers.    

The brief emphasizes that Congress directed the Federal Reserve to ensure debit interchange fees are “reasonable and proportional” to issuer costs—a standard the Fed followed in its 2011 rulemaking and the district court misinterpreted in its ruling. The brief argues that "the interchange fee must reflect at least the four categories of costs that Corner Post challenges" and that the court mistakenly concluded that the Durbin Amendment requires different interchange fee caps for different issuers.

Issuers have invested billions in the current system to ensure consumer access and data security. Meanwhile, retailers have lobbied aggressively to shift payment system costs onto credit unions and banks, while reaping the benefits of interchange without making their own comparable investments in fraud prevention. The district court’s ruling marks a step backward in ensuring a safe, sustainable payments ecosystem.  

America's Credit Unions continues to oppose the need for interchange regulation in the first place, fiercely defending credit unions against the dilution of interchange fee income on all fronts, and will provide updates on the litigation as available.