The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) recently joined several organizations in opposing Durbin Amendment expansion, stating that caps on interchange fees would negatively impact the payments ecosystem.
CUNA was among organizations that forwarded correspondence to the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee regarding the matter. In June, retail groups advocated the Durbin Amendment cap be extended from debit cards to credit cards.
“Support for any legislation on this topic would undermine the overall health and security of the U.S. payments ecosystem and have significant negative implications for consumers and small businesses at a time when the U.S. economy is just starting to recover from a global pandemic,” the organizations wrote. “Already, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting regulations created a $250 billion wealth transfer from small businesses to big-box retailers—and an expansion of the Durbin Amendment would only further widen that gap.”
CUNA and the other organizations stated that the Durbin Amendment is a failed government policy that has resulted in consumer price increases, the establishment of fewer community banks and credit unions, and the shuttering of several small debit networks.
The opposition to the Durbin Amendment’s expansion argues that legislators should not require the revamping of the payments system as a means of benefiting a small group of large retailers at the expense of small businesses.