On June 7th, 2023, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Peter Welch (D-VT) reintroduced legislation that would create new credit card routing mandates allowing big-box retailers to rake in billions of dollars in extra revenue at the expense of consumers, small businesses, and small financial institutions.
Despite vigorous lobbying from big-box retailers and their allies, this legislation was deeply unpopular when it was first introduced in 2022—among both Democrats and Republicans. This “Big-Box Bill” would hurt consumers by increasing costs, weakening payment security, harming small financial institutions, reducing access to credit for those who need it the most, and ending popular credit card rewards programs.
“This bill is nothing but a classic bait-and-switch from big-box retailers. Despite aggressive lobbying efforts from Walmart, Target, Kroger, and others, this bill saw no meaningful activity in either the Senate or the House when it was previously introduced last year. Legislators see this bill for what it is: a handout for the big-box stores at the expense of consumers, small businesses, and small financial institutions.” – Aaron Stetter, Executive Director of the Electronic Payments Coalition
A one-pager explaining why the big-box bill failed in 2022 can be found copied below.