WASHINGTON–The “Credit Card Competition Act” should be called the “Credit Card Cancellation Act,” Richard Hunt, director of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) told an event in Washington, according to America’s Credit Unions, which had a representative on hand for the event.
In attendance was the trade group’s chief advocacy officer, Carrie Hunt, who is an EPC board member. America’s Credit Unions is also an EPC member.
As the CU Daily has been reporting, the Credit Card Competition Act is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS), and is strongly opposed by credit unions and other financial institutions, who have derided it as the “Big Box Bailout Bill.”
The nation’s retailers just as strongly favor the legislation.
‘Number-One Mission’
According to America’s Credit Unions, Richard Hunt told the event the EPC’s “number one core mission is to make sure [Senators] Durbin and Marshall don’t tell American companies how to process credit cards and take away your credit cards. Our coalition is credit unions, community banks, large banks, airlines, airports. Even unions have joined us in this battle to defeat Durbin-Marshall.
“They’ve not done any research. They’ve not had any legitimate hearings whatsoever,” America’s Credit Unions quoted Richard Hunt as continuing. “Walmart and Target are funding this operation for the mega corporate stores to do this. So, we’re fighting back each and every day. This bill has not been reintroduced this Congress. They’re having a hard time finding co-sponsors to do it. It’s because of our coalition going to members of Congress saying how this would hurt states that rely on tourism because people would stop flying, credit cards would be reduced.”
