WASHINGTON–Two credit union trade groups are among eight financial services associations that have sent a joint letter to the Senate urging it to reject any Marshall-Durbin interchange amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
America’s Credit Unions and the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) are both signatories on the letter and had each separately sent similar letters of their own to the Hill.
Specifically, the seven-page letter argues against including either rthe entire Credit Card Competition Act sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) or language from the bill from being attached. That legislation would affect interchange at the largest of institutions, although the trade groups say ultimately it would affect all issuers.
The groups also expressed opposition to another amendment that would require a study on credit and debit card interchange fees at commissaries and base retail facilities.
What Groups Stated
The organizations told Congress the proposed legislation would:
- Increase 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
- Eliminate and/or reductions of many consumer benefits without any reduction in prices.
The full letter can be found here.
