Chicago, IL – The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) is launching a second ad in their statewide public awareness campaign to urge the Illinois legislature to repeal the Credit Card Chaos law known as the IFPA, and ensure Illinois voters know the harms this law will bring to small businesses, local banks and credit unions across Illinois. EPC’s members include community banks and credit unions, card networks and issuing banks.
“Illinois is going after its local businesses and hometown banks and credit unions with a punitive policy,” said Richard Hunt, Executive Chairman of the EPC. “If Springfield doesn’t fix this mistake, commerce in the state could grind to a halt as credit and debit cards may no longer work at Illinois businesses.”
Click on the image below to watch the second Illinois ad:
Legal experts across the country concur that the law will cause mass confusion. The Biden Administration’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency called the law “ill-conceived, highly unusual and largely unworkable.” A federal judge noted the law would be “disruptive” and “costly,” and acknowledged compliance would be particularly burdensome for local banks and credit unions, creating “business-ending consequences for some members of the market.”
Illinois has over one million small businesses that will be impacted by this law. In addition to operational costs, there is currently no technology to implement this new system that will cause chaos at the cash registers. Small business advocates, including the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce, all oppose this policy and have called for it to be repealed by the Illinois General Assembly.
Corporate megastores, which stand to make millions if they are able to shift their business costs onto others, have pushed similar bills in dozens of states. In each of the 26 states where the bill was filed in 2026, lawmakers declined to move the bills forward after understanding the negative impacts on their residents. Illinois remains a global outlier and the only state willing to shift the costs of corporate megastores onto its constituents.
The matter also remains unsettled in the courts. The American Bankers Association, Illinois Bankers Association, Illinois Credit Union League and America’s Credit Unions filed an appeal with the 7th Circuit Court.
The ad buy for the campaign, sponsored by EPC, includes broadcast, cable, digital and out-of-home platforms across Illinois, as well as national news programs to warn policymakers in other states about the havoc wreaked on local economies. The first ad in this campaign brought attention to the harms this policy will bring to tipped workers, who could lose income when diners, riders and others who tip are unable to tip on their cards. Ads will be seen by Illinois residents during March Madness, but also in places where Illinoisans should be prepared to experience pain points any time they pay with a credit or debit card at an Illinois business.
