CHICAGO--Part of ongoing efforts against the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, America’s Credit Unions and the Illinois Credit Union League have teamed up to produce and place multiple ads appearing in markets across the state.
The ads are running to combat big retailers’ support of the law and raise awareness of the negative consumer impact, ACU stated.
The IFPA would ban the collection of interchange from the tax and gratuity portions of a card transaction. Credit unions maintain that the law would upend the payments system, and that federal law preempts the IFPA.
The ads emphasize that the current payment system works for consumers, small businesses, and local credit unions, while the IFPA would simply be a handout to big retailers.
“Interchange restrictions shift the system—but not toward consumers. Retail giants win. Consumers lose fraud protections, reward value, and choice,” one ad states.
America’s Credit Unions and the Illinois Credit Union League's challenge to the IFPA was remanded to a lower court earlier this month. This follows orders from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that federal law preempts the IFPA. America’s Credit Unions has engaged with the NCUA on the need for a similar statement confirming credit union preemption.
The law is currently scheduled to go into effect July 1.