Today, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) released the following statement regarding H.R. 8874, the Credit Card Competition Act.

“When a large retailer experiences a data breach, thousands of credit cards must be reissued and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in fraudulent charges must be repaid to consumers. Interchange fees cover those expenses. An attempt to eliminate interchange fees is an attempt to eliminate those services. The Credit Card Competition Act would force consumers to either swallow the cost of fraud or sue the retailer who suffered the breach to get back their money. Neither is an acceptable scenario," Rep. Luetkemeyer said.

Background: The Credit Card Competition Act would raise costs for consumers who make purchases with credit cards at retail and grocery stores. So far, proponents of the bill have claimed it will support competition among credit card companies. However, in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled the market has adequate competition. Similar past measures have harmed small businesses, forcing them to pay more to accept credit cards due to one-size-fits-all regulation. Many of the retail giants advocating for this legislation claimed they would pass along their savings to consumers while supporting the Durbin Amendment in 2010. Unfortunately, prices continue to rise.