NAFCU’s Berger: Efforts to restrict interchange are the height of hypocrisy

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger sent a letter to Congress Friday detailing the credit union industry’s total opposition to any efforts to impose restrictions on interchange in light of the potential for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to reintroduce the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) in the coming weeks. The legislation – first introduced last Congress – sought to regulate credit card interchange rates by requiring multiple routing networks for credit transactions, granting merchants the option to choose cheaper, untested networks.

Berger explained that both sides of the two-sided market structure of the electronic payments system, which is comprised of consumers and merchants, benefit from the interchange arrangement.

“This bill is unwarranted and represents a heavy-handed government intrusion into the credit card payments market that would hurt credit unions and consumers alike, while allowing the largest retailers to pocket significant cost savings,” wrote Berger.

NAFCU relentlessly advocated against interchange expansion last Congress and is prepared to fight back again. At the end of 2022, the association’s advocacy ensured that several NAFCU-opposed provisions – including the CCCA – were excluded from the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill.

 

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