The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) is urging the House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) to repeal of the Durbin Amendment to the Financial Choice Act, claiming it would burden credit unions.
In a letter sent this week to Hensarling, NAFCU said it supports many elements of his Financial Choice Act, citing its regulatory relief for credit unions. It also praised the act for its proposed reforms to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including changing the bureau to a five-person board and mandating congressional oversight via the appropriations process.
It does not, however, support the Durbin amendment, which has resulted in a drop in the average interchange fee and a $40 billion windfall for merchants.
“Quite simply, the Durbin amendment is not doing what proponents said it would,” Carrie Hunt, NAFCU’s executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel, said. “It is time for its repeal.”
Hunt said the growing compliance burden is weighing heavily on credit unions.
“Since the second quarter of 2010, we have lost 1,500 federally-insured credit unions – over 20% of the industry,” she said. “There is an urgent need for Congress to enact meaningful regulatory relief.”
Hunt also pushed for the inclusion of three other bills in the Financial Choice Act language — the Community Financial Institution Exemption Act, the Financial Services for the Underserved Act, and the Credit Union Residential Loan Parity Act.
Hensarling’s bill passed in the committee last year, but it received no further action in the House.