BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Lawmakers want to change how credit card payments are processed with the Credit Card Competition Act proposed by senators Richard Durbin and Roger Marshall.
The idea behind the bill is to create more competition within the credit card industry, giving merchants the option between two processing networks so they can choose the cheaper one and hopefully pass those savings along to customers.
Mountain America Credit Union's CEO, Sterling Nielsen, says in the end, the bill will not help anyone except the big box stores, and consumers could end up paying the price with their personal information.
"When you mandate routing to the lowest cost possible, you're not looking out for the security needs, and that's our concern. Is this going to be a security concern that's going to impact consumers?" Nielsen said.
Nielsen adds the rewards many customers enjoy on their credit cards will likely be impacted or go away completely. "We saw that happen when Senator Durbin passed similar legislation on debit cards, it was very impactful, and at that time, you saw many of the free checking accounts go away, especially at the larger banks. You saw those go away very quickly."
According to an Experian report, roughly 191 million American adults have at least one credit card account.
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