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Legislative Update

June 21, 2010 - Letter the Conference Committee Leaders

Please call or write your Congressional Representatives and Senators and tell them that you are a constituent and an employer of constituents in their state. A list of your representatives is included.

Please also call House Financial Services Chairman Congressman Barney Frank's office at (202) 225-5931 and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office at (202) 225-4965.

Interchange Under Attack

The last few days have been marked by some unfortunate developments on the interchange front. Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) to the Financial Reform Bill (S. 3217) that would regulate debit interchange, should it become law.

Specifically, the amendment that was passed would:

  • Require interchange fees on debit transactions to be "reasonable and proportional" to the cost incurred by the issuer or payment card network with respect to the transaction.
  • Allow retailers to set minimum and maximum purchase requirements for credit.
  • Allow retailers to offer discounts to customers who use a competing card network.
  • Allow retailers to offer discounts for use of cash, check, debit card or stored-value card or credit card.

We are disappointed that Senator Durbin has decided to force unrelated and irresponsible legislation into the financial reform package at the eleventh hour with virtually no study, hearing or debate. With their vote, the Senate simply adopted the language of the big box retailers and their lobbyists without taking the time to understand the complex issues at play. As a result, we are faced with a piece of flawed legislation that will result in damaging consequences to consumers, financial institutions and the economy.

While it is premature to assume the amendment will survive the reconciliation process as currently written, We are working with our industry allies, CUNA, WCUL, and Visa is aggressively pursuing all avenues to influence the outcome of the final legislation including elimination of the Durbin amendment. We believe that when the issue is fully reviewed by Members of Congress during the next phase of negotiations, they will conclude the amendment is harmful to consumers, financial institutions and the economy and should be eliminated from the bill.

Help Eliminate the Durbin Amendment.
Since no one can be as successful alone with these initiatives, we invite each of you to consider the impact the Durbin amendment could have on your credit union and members and act accordingly. You can effectively lend your voice to the industry's efforts to defeat interchange regulation by calling your Members of Congress and Senators to register your extreme displeasure with the amendment, as well as by contacting House Financial Services Committee Chairman Congressman Barney Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to request that they eliminate the amendment from the Financial Reform package.

We understand that you have many questions about the Durbin amendment and the potential impact to your credit union and members. We are providing three documents to assist you in making these calls, including a list of phone numbers and email addresses for Members of Congress and Senators, as well as talking points and an email template that you may customize and use during your communications.

Prepare for Meetings with Your Representatives: Fact Sheets and Media Articles to Leave with Lawmakers (New)

Pen an Editorial for your Local Newspaper: Instructions and Sample Editorials (New)

Educate and Engage Employees and Partners: Sample Templates (New)

Please know that these activities are the highest priority for MAP and our business partner Visa, on behalf of our collective interests. We highly recommend that you do what's possible to prioritize these efforts within your organization. If you have additional questions, please contact Karl Kaluza or me at 866-598-0698 x1618 or email karl.kaluza@mapacific.com.

Sincerely,
Cyndie Martini
President/CEO