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Electronic Payments Coalition |

Interchange = Access to Credit

Interchange allows financial institutions the ability to provide access to credit, especially in underserved, rural, and low-income communities. Without interchange, many institutions would be forced to stop issuing credit cards altogether or eliminate low-cost banking services. People with less-than-perfect credit or no credit have greater access to secure financial services thanks, in large part, to the funding provided by the current interchange system. Keep reading below to learn more about how interchange = access to credit.
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Electronic Payments Coalition |

Myth vs. Fact: Correcting the NYT Op-ed on Credit Card Rewards

On March 4, 2023, The New York Times published an op-ed attacking rewards credit cards, entitled “The Dirty Little Secret of Credit Card Rewards Programs.” The op-ed makes several misleading claims about credit card rewards, which are consistently repeated by merchant and retail special interest groups that are funded by mega-retailers like Walmart and Target. These claims have been addressed below.
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Electronic Payments Coalition |

A Message to New Members of the 118th Congress: Electronic Payments Have Never Been More Valuable to America’s Economy

Electronic payments are the cornerstone of America’s economy. They empower consumers, strengthen small businesses, and uphold financial infrastructure. As America’s credit unions, community banks, payment networks, FinTechs, and financial institutions, the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) supports the backbone of our economic system—electronic payments—and defends it against threats. As you enter the 118th United States Congress, here’s what you need to know about electronic payments, and what they mean to the American economy: The Value of Electronic Payments The electronic payments system is tremendously valuable to small businesses, financial institutions, and consumers alike. Here’s how: Electronic payments… Bolster Consumer Spending: Consumer spending, which has long been the most important factor in U.S. economic growth, continues to be fueled by the innovation of electronic payments. Even during the COVD-19 outbreak, electronic payments allowed small businesses to pivot to online sales, curbside pick-up, and in-store self-checkout. Protect Consumers’ Data: Payment networks have been at the forefront of consumer data security for years. Following the industry-led transition to EMV chip cards in 2015, U.S. counterfeit card fraud fell by nearly half. Additionally, value lost to counterfeit fraud in the U.S. fell by 46% from 2016 to 2021. As consumer shopping habits continue to shift
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Electronic Payments Coalition |

Competition in the Payments Space: Debunking the Myths about Competition

There is intense competition in payments, facilitated by the rise of e-commerce and new market entrants during the pandemic. The payments market is much broader than traditional players with new entrants that give consumers many options to pay including global brands such as American Express, Discover, JCB, and alternative payment players such as PayPal, Klarna, Afterpay, and Block.
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ICLE |

Credit Cards and the Reverse Robin Hood Fallacy: Do Credit Card Rewards Really Steal from the Poor and Give to the Rich?

Recently, the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE) published a study analyzing the credit card market and the “Reverse Robin Hood” fallacy—the erroneous belief that credit card rewards programs steal from the poor to benefit the rich. The study authors debunk this idea, concluding that addressing the concern by capping credit card interchange would “create far more risk of harm than good.” The full study can be found below.
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