Help Us Oppose The Credit Card Competition Act

A key way we maintain the soundness of our financial cooperative is by advocating for legislation that protects both credit unions and members like you. The Credit Card Competition Act is a bill that was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives, and puts the security of consumers’ personal information at great risk. 

The Credit Card Competition Act was originally introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) in 2022. Every time a retailer processes a card payment, the merchant pays an interchange fee. This fee, often called a “swipe fee,” is designed to cover the costs associated with accepting, processing and authorizing card transactions. These fees often go towards protecting your personal information from data breaches.

This legislation has the power to increase the number of data breaches and puts your confidential information at risk. Retailers will have the ability to choose which network they use to process credit card payments, allowing them to purchase a cheaper, potentially less secure option. It will be up to financial institutions like HVCU to restore the accounts and credit or debit cards of our members who fall victim to a data breach. In this digital age, we should be doing everything possible to protect our confidential information from scammers – not make it more easily accessible to them. 

If the prospect of more data breaches worries you, we encourage you to voice your concerns by writing or calling your federal officials in opposition of this unsafe bill. The official Protect Interchange website has more information on this important issue, including pre-written verbiage that you can use to send to your legislator. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via secure email. We thank you for placing your trust in our cooperative.