Credit Card Competition Act: The Battle for a Congressional Vote

Why Commotion Behind CCCA

Visa-Mastercard duopoly's swipe fees and Wall Street bank, duopoly supporter, price burdening U.S. families 7 times more than the EU is to end soon, assures the Senate.

Credit Card Competition Act Update 

Congress Delays Vote on Credit Card

The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) confirms that the highly anticipated vote on the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) is not taking place this week as Congress prepares for its month-long August recess. 

Nevertheless, the convenience and fuel retailing industry's voice has been heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill, massing nearly 5,000 messages urging Senators to hold a vote on the CCCA. 

NACS urges its members to sustain the pressure and continue advocating for the bill's passage.

Senator’s Affirmation – Credit Card Competition Act 

The CCCA was put forward by Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

In addition to the existing challenges, Senator Richard Durbin tested positive for COVID during the weekend and couldn't return to D.C., thereby sidelining the Democratic champion of the CCCA and the Senate Majority. 

Senator Marshall taking up the Senate leadership affirmed ending the Visa-Mastercard duopoly's swipe fees, including the duopoly-favoring bank, the Wall Street bank. His statement mentioned that the duopoly price burdens U.S. families seven times more than the EU.

Furthermore, he assured that the Credit Card Competition Act would receive a vote during this Congress.

The bill aims to address issues related to swipe fees, the Visa-Mastercard duopoly, and the practices of Wall Street banks that are unfairly burdening American families.

Info Source

Voice Against CCCA

"Will spend whatever is needed,” stated the American Bankers Association's president to prevent a vote on the CCCA last week. The credit card industry has also launched a significant lobbying operation against the CCCA.

 Why Commotion Behind CCCA?

Merchants are in opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) recently introduced in Congress owing to the following factors: 

• Alteration of Credit-Card Payment Routing: The CCCA would require card issuers (banks and credit unions) to offer multiple networks for merchants to process credit card transactions. Merchants argue that this would allow them to choose the cheapest option, which might compromise consumer data security.
• Concerns about Increased Costs: Merchants believe that the CCCA could lead to higher costs for them. They point to previous similar legislation (Durbin 1.0 in 2010) that reduced their costs but did not result in significant savings for consumers.
• Data Security Apprehensions: Merchants are against efforts to raise data security standards at their point-of-sale terminals. They claim that credit unions and banks bear financial responsibility in case of data breaches, while merchants do not share the same burden.
• Interchange Fees Impact: Merchants contribute interchange fees to support the operation of the electronic-payment network, including fraud prevention and protection. They may be concerned that the CCCA could affect these fees or disrupt the current payment ecosystem.
• Access to Credit Concerns: Merchants argue that reduced interchange rates might impede credit union's ability to offer credit cards, potentially leading to increased credit-card rates, program fees, or even the elimination of card programs.
• Merchants oppose the CCCA due to concerns about potential cost increases, data security implications, and possible impacts on consumers' access to credit.

What the CCCA holds?

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) is a proposed federal legislation introduced in Congress, the objective being amending changes to the credit-card payment system, directing card issuers to provide a minimum of two credit card payment networks. 

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), filed recently in Congress, would change the credit card payment system that's currently beneficial to all parties involved while increasing costs and jeopardizing data security for Iowa consumers.

Connecting Feed: 

As per a recent survey conducted by the Credit Union National Association, if interchange rates are lowered, it would impede credit unions' capacity to provide credit cards.

• 73% of national credit unions estimate of raising credit-card rates in the future.
• 61% of credit unions nationally judge that they would raise the credit-card program fee.
• 15% of credit unions nationally speculate that they would end or reduce their card program.

Info Source

Up Ahead

With the Senate's upcoming recess, there is a crucial opportunity to engage with lawmakers. Throughout August, many Senators will return to their home states to meet with constituents, presenting an ideal time to schedule meetings and advocate for the passage of the CCCA. The fate of the bill hinges on the continued commitment and advocacy of industry supporters.

#ccca #congressupdate #creditcardpaymentsystem #industrynews

#creditcardcompetitionact #congressionalvote #swipefees #visamastercardduopoly #uscongress #senatorrogermarshall #wallstreetbanks #visa #mastercard #congressionalrecess #payments #creditcard #creditcards

Read More:

CHAPS Migration to ISO20022 – What It Means

KKR Deals Purchasing PayPal’s Receivables at €40 billion

GUARDING YOUR DIGITS

Mastercard’s Directives: Europe Region

Navigating the Payment Landscape: Request-to-Pay in SEPA Payment Ecosystem

What is Genetic Algorithm (GA) in Credit Card Fraud Detection

BEHIND THE INTERFACE FRAUD DETECTORS

Towards Responsible AI: Regulators Scrutinizing FI’s

ACH Payment Processing - U.S. Federal Government

The Future of Payments in 2025: Insights and Trends Revealed

Payments Within Wink and Blink in the States – FedNOW

Payments and Contracting Platforms

Mini Brief: PCI DSS Compliance

Credit Card Competition Act Tosses Duopoly of Mastercard and Visa

Decoding Merchant Data Formats: Navigating the Standards Successfully

WHY HIGH-RISK MERCHANT ACCOUNT FOR SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS

US Financial Institutions Average SARs Filings 312815 SARs in Qtr.I, 2023

When Fee And Revenue Are At Par