Eight of the nation’s leading banking and credit union trade associations urged lawmakers to block efforts to insert controversial credit card interchange provisions into the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a joint letter to congressional leaders, the groups called on Congress to reject both the Credit Card Competition Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and a related study of interchange fees at military commissaries.
“Shoehorning such a contentious banking mandate into a defense authorization bill is a dangerous legislative shortcut that could distract from genuine national security issues,” the letter stated.
The coalition argued that the proposed routing mandate would repeat the negative consumer impacts seen after debit interchange caps were enacted in 2010, noting: “After debit interchange fees were capped by the Durbin Amendment in 2010, consumers saw little to no savings at the checkout. The Federal Reserve found that the vast majority of merchants did not pass along interchange savings to customers – about 75% of retailers made no price changes, and roughly one in four increased prices instead.” At the same time, “many banks were forced to cut back on free checking and debit rewards programs to make up for lost revenue.”
In addition to consumer harm, the groups warned that the measures would disproportionately hit institutions serving local communities and military families. “Community banks and credit unions – many of which are themselves small businesses – rely on interchange fee revenue to help cover the costs of offering credit cards, maintaining fraud prevention tools and funding local lending. If those revenues are artificially squeezed by government mandates, these institutions will face serious economic challenges,” they wrote.
“We urge Congress to see through this façade and keep the focus of the NDAA where it belongs – on strengthening national defense and supporting our troops – not on advancing unrelated financial agendas that undermine the very people our defense community exists to serve,” the letter concluded.
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