Wisconsin Credit Union League one of 48 state credit union groups to oppose Durbin-Marshall credit card bill

The Wisconsin Credit Union League (WCUL) is one of 48 state credit union groups to oppose the “Credit Card Competition Act.”

That’s according to a list of state financial organizations that signed on to 2024 Congressional letters opposing the legislation and released by the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC).

The U.S. Senate sponsor of those regulations, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (R-Ill.) recently said he plans to re-introduce the legislation in the current congressional session, reported Payments Dive. 

“If the Durbin-Marshall credit card bill were enacted, it would force an overhaul of the payments landscape at significant systemic cost – a cost ultimately borne by consumers and the local financial institutions that serve them.” said the EPC web site. “Many credit unions and community banks would retreat from card issuance in response.”

“The legislation is poorly conceived and would exclusively benefit corporate mega-stores like Walmart and Target,” said the EPC.

Originally sponsored by Durbin and U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kans.), the legislation would require banks to offer merchants at least two network options, one of which cannot be Visa or Mastercard, for processing credit card transactions. 

Opponents of the bill argue that if given the choice, retailers would likely choose cheaper, less secure networks for processing transactions, thereby exposing consumers to increased securities and fraud risks.  

Nationally, the bill could lead to a $227 billion loss in U.S. economic activity and 156,000 lost jobs, according to an analysis conducted for the EPC by Oxford Economics Research (OER).

The bill applies to credit cards what a similar measure in 2010, often referred to as the “Durbin Amendment,” applied to debit cards. The 2010 measure was a requirement of the “Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.”

A 2014 George Mason University study found that the 2010 “Durbin Amendment” led to a 50% reduction in the number of “fee-free” accounts offered by banks between 2009 and 2013, and doubled average monthly fees on “non-free” current bank accounts. 

The study also said the measure resulted in an increase of 1 million “unbanked” Americans in the year after the measure was enacted. 

Which state credit unions oppose the “Credit Card Competition Act”?