H.R. 2382 – “The Credit Card Interchange Fees Act”

[Sinistrous]

Today, I received the following email from my credit union.

Dear Valued Member,

Congress is considering legislation on interchange fees that would be harmful to credit unions and their members. An interchange fee is part of the fee retailers or merchants pay to credit and debit card issuers, such as credit unions, which supports the operations for debit and credit card transactions. As members, you could be affected by these increased costs. To counteract this proposed legislation, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is coordinating a national mail campaign to the United States Senate. However, CUNA needs you, a credit union member, to speak on their behalf. Learn more about this issue.

XXXXXXXX Credit Union is joining this effort and will have postcards in all of our locations at the teller stations for you to sign. We want to gather as many signed postcards as possible to mail by Friday, November 6th. Visit one of our locations today to make your vote count!

Or, you can sign the online petition. There are several fields but only 4 are required.

Thank you for your support!

The legislation referred to is the subject bill, H.R. 2382 – “The Credit Card Interchange Fees Act”.

The information page for this bill, as provided by the credit union is: http://www.electronicpaymentscoalition.org/

I read through the bill in Thomas, and IF I read it correctly, it puts minor and common sensical restrictions on credit and debit card issuers. Apparently the claim that the customer will pay for these restrictions stems from the fact that credit card issuers will not be able to bill merchants more for transactions made on so-called "Premium" debit and credit cards, and so card issuers may not offer cash back and other premium offers.

I would appreciate someone checking into this and tell me if it is as innocuous as my reading, or if it is something that warrants contacting Congress.

[Nikki Stone1]

1. REC and Done!

:)

[pa28]

2. This is actually a bill friendly to consumers and small merchants.

The electronic payments coalition site is really a good study in half truth, manipulation and astroturfing. Currently the rules allow the credit card industry to effectively pass the cost of credit card rewards (like airline mileage) directly to merchants who are very familiar with the monthly and highly unregulated gouging they see on their statements every month. This bill would force banks to actually pay for the rewards they promise instead of the merchant.

I think the banks have gotten enough goodies lately. Let's have some consumer friendly legislation that keeps retail costs down.

[Sinistrous]

3. Thank you.

That was my reading also, except that yours was phrased much better.

[JVS]

4. Nice Avatar!

[pa28]

5. We must honor "countdown to liquor day"

;)