Joint Trades Letter in Opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act (Durbin-Marshall bill)

Dear Member of Congress:

The American Bankers Association, America’s Credit Unions, Association of Military Banks of America, Bank Policy Institute, Consumer Bankers Association, Defense Credit Union Council, Independent Community Bankers of America, Electronic Payments Coalition, Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, and National Bankers Association are writing to reiterate our strong opposition to the so-called Credit Card Competition Act (Durbin-Marshall bill) or any other expansion of the Durbin amendment.1 Any legislative initiatives to expand the power of the federal government to intervene in the U.S. credit card market would harm consumers, small businesses and financial institutions alike by reducing choice, increasing costs and fraud risks, and creating economic challenges for smaller financial institutions.

Small Businesses Benefit Both from Card Acceptance and as Card Users

Government intervention in the credit card market would disadvantage small businesses. A recent paper by a University of Miami finance professor found that small businesses would be put "at a further competitive disadvantage" to large corporate megastores if the Durbin-Marshall bill were to become law, estimating that almost all of those savings will accrue to retailers with $500 million or more in annual sales, with little going to small businesses. Additionally, according to the paper, if the Durbin-Marshall bill were to be enacted it could cost small businesses up to $1 billion in rewards, since small businesses are large users of payment cards to make purchases, and could lead to reduced access to $700 billion in revolving lines of credit.

The Durbin-Marshall bill is a solution in search of a problem. According to the National Federation of Independent Business’s own "small business problems and priorities" survey from 2024, credit card processing costs failed to rank among their top 20 list of concerns.

Download the joint trades letter to read the full text.