Last week, IBAT joined state community banking associations nationwide in signing on to a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, stating opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 (H.R. 8874). “If enacted, this bill would force an overhaul of the payments landscape at significant systemic cost – a cost ultimately borne by consumers and the community banks that serve them,” the letter said.
This bill would create new credit card routing mandates by the Board of the Federal Reserve requiring banks with over $100 billion in assets to offer merchants a minimum of two networks to process credit cards, at least one of which cannot be owned by Visa or Mastercard.
In addition to standalone bi-partisan bills now filed in the House and Senate, the language of the bill was also inserted into the House version of the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We were encouraged last week when it was excluded from the Senate version of the NDAA; however, this fight is far from over.
IBAT has been actively encouraging your engagement on this issue over the last several weeks. Please take a moment to weigh in on this crucial issue with your elected officials to express how this will negatively impact both your bank and your customers.
