WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) released the following statement highlighting the more than 175 organizations — spanning worker unions, merchant and consumer groups, credit unions, community banks and financial associations — that oppose the harmful credit card routing mandates included in the Durbin interchange legislation (S. 1838). This bill inflicts financial and security harm on consumers, small businesses, and financial institutions of all sizes.
“More than 175 organizations agree the proposed credit card routing mandates included in the Durbin credit card interchange bill are bad for American consumers, American workers, small businesses on Main Street, and financial institutions of all sizes.
“This legislation is corporate welfare for mega-retailers, like Walmart and Target, at the expense of everyone else. We know that not a dime in savings will be passed on to consumers because we’ve seen this story before. The last time Congress passed interchange regulations, 98 percent of retailers failed to lower prices or raised them.
“Consumers, workers, and small banks are going to be the biggest losers, because popular cash-back and rewards programs will disappear, fraud will likely explode, and millions of Americans could lose access to credit.”
— Electronic Payments Coalition Executive Chairman Richard Hunt
The 177 organizations that oppose the Durbin credit card interchange legislation (S. 1838) are listed below:
Airlines for America
American Airlines
American Bankers Association
Alaska Airlines
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Association of Military Banks of America
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA)
Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA)
Bank Policy Institute
Citizens Against Government Waste
Cato
Consumer Bankers Association
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Electronic Payments Coalition
FreedomWorks
Hawaiian Airlines
Heritage Action
Independent Community Bankers of America
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
We are the credit unions, community banks, payment card networks, and institutions who support the backbone of our economic system: electronic payments.
