WASHINGTON–More than 20,000 messages have been sent over a 10-day period by credit unions to members of Congress expressing opposition to an interchange bill introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS). The bill would allow merchants to route payments through an unaffiliated network.
Jason Stverak, deputy chief advocacy officer with CUNA, said even though both the House and Senate are in recess for August, the trade group and its state-level affiliates have actually stepped up their efforts in opposition to the bill.
“The legislation is of great concern to our nation’s credit unions,” said Stverak, saying those 20,000 messages have come in the form of emails and phone calls, as well as in-person lobbying. “Credit unions are talking about the negative impact this legislation would have not just on credit unions, but on the payments ecosystems throughout the country. We are going to continue this effort throughout the recess.”
Stverak said CUNA is also working Capitol Hill to contact congressional staff members.
‘Massive Amount’ of Effort
“Congress will be coming back in September and we are working so this legislation does not pass and so that it is not included in any must-pass legislation,” he said.
Stverak said CUNA and its state affiliates are putting a “massive amount” of effort behind stopping the Durbin/Marshall legislation, adding that no other financial trade organization has at its disposal the kinds of resources CUNA has to “impact” legislation at both the national level but also at the state and district level.
The Very Best in CU Reporting. For You. For Free. Or Your Money Back.
Don’t forget to check your Spam/Junk email folder if you haven’t been receiving your free, popular and daily CUToday.info news headlines.
And if you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time.
CUToday.info has received very positive response from readers following the move to an improved provider of the daily headlines, but many also noted they did need to go to their Spam/Junk folder and mark it as safe.
The new email solution has not only improved every reader’s delivery experience, but it also features a fresh, new format that is easy to read, especially on mobile devices.
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com.