Thousands of retailers pushing credit card bill opposed by CU trades

by David Baumann, CUCollaborate

In a sign of how furious lobbying on the issue has become, 1,688 companies and 231 trade associations this week sent a letter to every member of Congress pushing for passage of Senate legislation designed to expand the credit card processing industry—a measure that credit union trade groups oppose.

The letter-writing campaign, organized by the Merchants Payments Coalition, urges passage of S.4674, which would require the Federal Reserve to issue rules that would ensure banks that currently use the four-party card processing system be required to use at least one affiliated network in addition to Visa and Mastercard.

At the same time, credit union trade groups continued their push opposing the bill. In an op-ed on the RealClearMarkets website, NAFCU President/CEO B. Dan Berger wrote that the bill is nothing more than a “bailout to greedy retailers.”

Inside the Letter

The payments coalition, which includes retailers and other businesses that accept credit cards, disagreed.

 

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