WASHINGTON–With Congress out for its August recess CUNA said it and its state leagues have shifted their focus to the states and districts, with a special emphasis on the proposed Credit Card Competition Act and the value of interchange.
In six states specifically, CUNA and the leagues are backing digital advertisements opposing the legislation that are appearing on the home pages of some local newspapers and on social media platforms.
“We are going to be very active in the states,” said Chief Political Officer Richard Gose. “There are some states that have significant importance due to representatives in those states and activities in those states. This is not just a federal issue.”
In addition to the federal legislation that seeks to address interchange and which has the support of the nation’s retailers, bills have also been introduced in several states that seek to do similar things.
‘Other States Lined Up’
Gose said the CUNA/league messaging and media ads are appearing Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, Montana and Texas. “And we have other states lined up,” he said, adding CUNA/leagues have also geo-fenced the U.S. capitol with its messaging.
Focus on Card Benefits
“The ads are really focused on the benefits that cards bring, not just to consumers but to businesses,” Gose said.
Those benefits, according to CUNA and the leagues, include that cards allow for self-service lines, provide guaranteed payments to merchants, allow for ease of use, help to improve security by not requiring as much cash to be on hand, and also reduce the costs of having cash on hand.
The ads repeatedly stress merchants only profit from offering credit cards and have not had to invest in the types of anti-fraud solutions card processors and financial institutions have.
‘Very Pleased With Response’
To date, Gose said CUNA and the leagues have been “very pleased” with activation levels in response to its campaign opposing the Credit Card Competition Act, saying close to 80,000 messages have been sent to the Hill, in addition to personal contacts in Washington and in districts.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), one of the two co-sponsors of the bill, has promised the legislation will come to a vote in the Senate in this Congress.
“When Congress comes back in the fall we plan to have very robust pressure. We will keep up the pressure,” said Gose. “This is issue one for us on the advocacy side.”
The three videos include “Greed,” “Cutting Jobs” and “Just Say Not to Big Box Bailout.”
CUNA, NAFCU Plan Press Call on Proposed Merger
Both CUNA and NAFCU continue to decline to take questions from the media on their proposed merger. CUToday.info has made multiple attempts to get additional details about the proposed combination of the trade groups.
But in a Monday media call, CUNA Chief Engagement Officer Greg Michlig said the organizations due plan on holding a call with the media “in the coming weeks” regarding the plan.
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