September 28, 2023
MBA Urges Rejection of Credit Card Routing Mandate
MBA joined the American Bankers Association and state bankers associations in telling congressional leaders that imposing routing requirements on banks that issue credit cards is an anti-consumer, anti-competitive and cynical attempt by the largest global merchants and biggest grocery chains to obtain a subsidy for themselves.
The Credit Card Competition Act was introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and by Reps. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. In their letter to House and Senate leaders, the associations said the bill was written to deliver a major payday for big retail and big grocery at a time when giant retailers have been getting even bigger. They also said not to be fooled by claims the legislation would exempt community banks or help small businesses, as the same claims were made a decade earlier during the Durbin Amendment debate, “yet small, ‘exempt’ banks saw a quarter of their debit card revenue disappear and fraud costs increased after it became law.”
“The impacts of this bill are clear: fewer choices for consumers, increased threats to consumer data and privacy, weakened local banks and credit unions, and the disappearance of card rewards programs that families of all income levels use to stretch their budgets,” the associations said.
MBA President and CEO Jackson Hataway said Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt need to hear from banks of all sizes on the proposed legislation.
“Imposing credit card routing mandates would hurt consumers and community financial institutions,” Hataway said. “It would spell the end of popular rewards programs, limit community banks’ ability to offer credit cards and force customer card transactions onto potentially less secure networks.”
ABA, Trade Groups: Hawley’s Bill to Cap Credit Card Rates Would Harm Consumers
The American Bankers Association and seven trade groups told Sen. Josh Hawley that his proposed legislation to set an all-in annual percentage rate cap for credit cards at 18% would severely restrict card availability for everyday consumers and harm the very people it seeks to protect. The groups’ letter to Hawley expressed their opposition to the Capping Credit Card Interest Rates Act and any attempt to amend it to an unrelated short-term government funding bill.
“[The bill] would not only cap credit card interest rates, but would also include all associated fees, penalties, and add-on products, such as warranties, in its arbitrary ‘all-in’ APR calculation,” the associations said. “Including annual fees and other fees in the calculation will cause credit cards to exceed the cap, resulting in the elimination or reduction of valuable credit card features like cash back and other rewards. This cap will also impede innovative credit cards with non-credit features designed to attract underserved groups because even a nominal annual fee could result in an all-in rate that exceeds the cap.”
Regulated financial institutions that issue credit cards to their customers already protect consumers and comply with numerous regulations and requirements, the associations said. The bill’s stated goal of reducing consumer debt “can be achieved without creating barriers for accessing safe and affordable credit products by pushing consumers with troubled credit histories and those on the financial fringe outside of highly regulated financial products to far more costly and less regulated lenders.”
As previously shared, MBA has voiced its concerns about the bill to Hawley’s staff and asked for further dialogue before any action on the bill.
“Regardless of whether your bank issues credit cards, our industry must vocally and staunchly oppose all rate cap proposals on credit products,” said MBA President and CEO Jackson Hataway. “We need all bankers to express their opposition to Hawley’s bill.”
Senate Committee Advances Cannabis Banking Legislation
A proposed rewrite of a cannabis banking bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee by bipartisan vote Wednesday. The committee voted 14-9 to advance the SAFER Banking Act to the full Senate for consideration, with only a technical amendment made to clean up the bill’s text. The legislation, a revised version of the SAFE Banking Act, would enable financial institutions to serve legitimate cannabis businesses in states where it is legal.
Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told senators that regardless of how they feel about the legalization of marijuana, the bill was necessary to make it safer for businesses and service providers to operate in states that have legalized cannabis.
“Cannabis policies look different in different states, but legal cannabis small businesses and their employees are running into many of the same issues,” he said. “One of these issues is access to financial services.”
MBA applauds the committee’s work to bring the bill to the Senate floor for vetting and debate.
“This is the first step to resolve the ongoing conflict concerning cannabis between state and federal law,” said MBA President and CEO Jackson Hataway. “We are talking with our congressional delegation on moving forward with legislation so banks can serve state-authorized cannabis and cannabis-related businesses.”
MBA Celebrates 15 Years With Segs4Vets
This year marks MBA’s 15-year partnership with Segs4Vets, a volunteer program that provides Segway mobile transporters and ALLY chairs for permanently disabled veterans and first responders. Since 2009, MBA has partnered with Segs4Vets as the association’s designated charity. Through the years, Missouri banks, their employees and communities have donated more than $970,980 to support Segs4Vets. This year, MBA hopes to surpass more than $1 million in cumulative donations in this final year of collaboration.
Friday, Nov. 10, has been designated as MBA Segs4Vets Day. Materials are available at mobankers.com to promote your bank’s participation in this year’s campaign. Donations can be made online, and donations made by check should be made payable to Segs4Vets. Donations are tax deductible. Banks making pledges or donations by Friday, Nov. 17, will be recognized at this year’s celebration in December during the 2023 Executive Management Conference.
For more information or to make a pledge or donation, contact MBA at 573-636-8151.
#BanksNeverAskThat Kicks Off Monday
The #BanksNeverAskThat anti-phishing campaign from the American Bankers Association will launch nationwide this Monday, Oct. 2. MBA encourages its members to participate in this award-winning anti-phishing campaign that provides valuable information to protect consumers from fraud and scams.
MBA will share resources from the campaign on its social media channels throughout October. Banks registering for the campaign have access to numerous turnkey resources that make your bank’s participation quick and easy. Much of the materials also can be branded with your bank’s logo.
- social media images and post ideas
- customizable press release
- digital signage and printables
For 2023, banksneveraskthat.com will be available in Spanish, and many of the toolkit resources also will be in Spanish. ABA also is bringing the fan-favorite quiz back so your customers have multiple opportunities to test their scam-spotting skills.
Registration is open and free for all banks, courtesy of ABA. Register at aba.com/BanksNeverAskThat. Banks that have participated in past campaigns also need to register for 2023 participation.
MBA VEBA Now Offering Allstate Worksite Benefits Plans
MBA VEBA is excited to now offer voluntary worksite benefit plans that provide tremendous value to both employers and employees. Effective Oct. 1, MBA members have access to whole life (with accelerated death benefit for long-term care), accident insurance, critical illness insurance and hospital indemnity.
Worksite benefits allow an employer the ability to provide a wide range of additional benefit programs and services to their employees at no cost to the company. Employees are presented with these products to supplement the traditional medical, dental, vision, life and disability programs that make up the employer’s core benefit package.
MBA VEBA has partnered with Allstate Benefits, one of the leading providers of supplemental product lines. If you are interested to learn more about this, please contact Lesley Weaver or Tina Woehr, or call 573-636-8151.