America’s Credit Unions joins with other industry groups in opposition to NDAA interchange amendments

Echoing a letter America’s Credit Unions sent to the Senate earlier this month, the nation’s leading financial services associations are urging Congress to reject any controversial interchange amendments when moving the the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) forward. America’s Credit Unions and seven other organizations sent the letter Monday to outline concerns with Congressional leaders. Congress is expected to consider the NDAA when lawmakers return in September.

The Credit Card Competition Act, also known as the interchange “Big Box Bailout” legislation previously introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has been floated as a proposed amendment to the NDAA, along with another amendment that has been filed to require a study on credit and debit card interchange fees at commissaries and base retail facilities.

Marshall and Durbin’s proposed language would create new credit card interchange mandates. In the joint letter, the organizations warn both amendments are inappropriate for legislation supporting America’s servicemembers, explaining it would bring severe negative consequences for everyday consumers.  These include:

• Increased fraud and cybersecurity risks;
• Cut funding that supports lending and fraud protection in favor of giving big retailers more profits, leading to higher costs for consumers;
• Undermine financial services for servicemembers and veterans;
• Make it more difficult to obtain affordable credit; and
• Elimination or reductions of many consumer benefits without any reduction in prices;
• The organizations add that the commissary study amendment is highly misleading.

“It implies that disabled veterans and other honored groups are being unfairly charged extra ‘swipe fees’ at commissaries and base stores, when in fact that is not the case. In reality, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) – backed by the U.S. Treasury – has negotiated special interchange rate agreements with card networks for military store transactions,” the letter reads. “As a result, it is the federal government (not the individual veteran shopper) that ultimately pays these fees at commissaries and MWR facilities. Congress itself ensured this outcome when it expanded commissary access to new veteran groups in 2019 – the law explicitly designed any commissary credit card user fees to reimburse the Treasury for interchange costs, rather than impose costs on the veterans themselves.”

America’s Credit Unions will remain vigilant for other concerning amendments as they are offered during the August recess and when Congress returns to begin consideration on the NDAA.

Read the full letter here.