EPC Statement on State Banking, Credit Union Case Against New Illinois Card Law

Date: August 15, 2024
Media Contact:
Nick Simpson
Nick@electronicpaymentscoalition.org

WASHINGTON, DC — Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) Executive Chairman Richard Hunt issued the following statement in support of a joint lawsuit filed by the Illinois Bankers Association, Illinois Credit Union League, American Bankers Association, and America’s Credit Unions against the merits of a new, experimental Illinois law fundamentally altering the way credit and debit cards are processed in Illinois:

“This new law will result in credit card chaos of the highest order for Illinois residents and small businesses. 

“The change was a ploy by corporate mega-stores to pocket more money and slipped into the state’s budget without any public hearing or discussion. No stone will be left unturned to correct this draconian disruption to the safe, secure, hassle-free credit card system Illinois consumers, small businesses and community financial institutions rely on every day.”

NOTE: The Illinois state budget included a provision – which has been rejected by more than two dozen other state legislatures – to exempt the tax and tip portion of a transaction from the card processing cost known as interchange. Illinois is currently the only place in the world to have passed a law to process cards in such a manner. Currently no system exists to facilitate this change and it would potentially require a separate transaction to pay for taxes on purchase, tips to be left in cash and merchants provide itemized purchase records for each consumer’s transaction.