Durbin announces hearing on credit card routing bill

With Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announcing a hearing on ICBA-opposed legislation to impose credit card routing restrictions, ICBA is calling on community bankers to urge their members of Congress to oppose the bill.

Background: The Credit Card Competition Act (S. 1838/H.R. 3881), introduced by Durbin and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), would allow merchants to process credit card transactions based solely on which network offers them the lowest cost. ICBA has repeatedly said the bill would reduce access to credit, weaken cybersecurity protections, and eliminate funding for popular credit card rewards programs.

Hearing Details: Durbin said the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, and called on the chief executives of Visa, Mastercard, American Airlines, and United Airlines to testify. Major airlines oppose the Durbin-Marshall legislation because of its impact on rewards programs.

2022 Hearing: During a Senate Judiciary hearing in May 2022, Durbin proposed expanded interchange standards, such as requiring disclosures on interchange fees in consumers’ monthly statements and stopping interchange fees on sales tax amounts, which resulted in bipartisan pushback from committee members. Ahead of that hearing, ICBA and other groups expressed opposition to any efforts to expand Durbin Amendment price controls.

Recent Study: A recent University of Miami study found the legislation would disproportionately benefit the nation’s top five businesses and put small retailers at a further competitive disadvantage. The study found that the bill would result in a nearly $3 billion transfer from issuers and cardholders to large retailers while costing small businesses more than $1 billion in lost rewards and diminished access to credit.

Grassroots Alert: Community bankers can use ICBA’s Be Heard grassroots action center to urge their senators to oppose the legislation.

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