Bankers: Ask Congress to Oppose Durbin Expansion Bill

In response to a controversial bill introduced last week by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would create new credit card routing mandates that will affect banks that issue credit, ABA is calling on all bankers to contact their lawmakers and urge them to oppose the measure.

The Credit Card Competition Act, S.4674, would require covered credit card issuers to add a second network to their customers’ cards, but banks would only be allowed to choose from certain options set by the Fed. In this regard, the bill goes further than the rules put in place for debit card transactions under the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment in 2010, where a bank could choose any two unaffiliated networks. The bill would also require that banks accept virtually any kind of transaction, regardless of the security or fraud recourse it carries, forcing banks to onboard potentially many more than two networks.

ABA and eight financial trade groups raised concerns about the bill after its introduction, noting that the proposed mandates would fall “disproportionately” on small card issuers, including community banks. Contact your lawmaker now.