Dear Member of Congress:

We, the undersigned organizations, oppose the inaccurately named Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 (S. 4674). The bill is a backdoor price control, and extension and expansion of the Durbin amendment as enacted in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203).

As written, the bill directs the Federal Reserve to draft rules requiring credit cards issued in the United States to offer at least two unaffiliated payment network options for point-of-sale and online transactions.

According to the bill, the two networks may not both be Visa and Mastercard, because they “hold the 2 largest market shares with respect to the number of credit cards issued in the United States.” However, should market share switch hands to new firms, the routing mandates will no longer apply. The bill also mandates that the proprietary security of the credit cards function so that all networks are available for retailers to pick and choose—consumers get no say whatsoever. In fact, the bill never mentions consumers, nor how they will benefit.

It is abundantly clear that special interest groups are using the federal government to alter the credit card market to benefit themselves and not consumers. This is textbook rent seeking behavior, anathema to free market principles, and should be staunchly opposed by Republican lawmakers.

Furthermore, we oppose S. 4674 for the following reasons:

Based on the points made above, we believe this bill is diametrically opposed to free market principles. We encourage all lawmakers to oppose this bill.

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform

Adam Brandon
President
FreedomWorks

Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Eli Lehrer
President
R Street Institute

Steve Pociask
President / CEO
American Consumer Institute

Heather R. Higgins
CEO
Independent Women’s Voice

Tom Schatz
President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Pete Sepp
President
National Taxpayers Union

Andrew F. Quinlan
President
Center for Freedom and Prosperity

David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Phil Kerpen
President
American Commitment

Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom

James Taylor President
The Heartland Institute

Jessica Anderson
Executive Director
Heritage Action for America

Brent Wm. Gardner
Chief Government Affairs Officer Americans for Prosperity

John Berlau
Director of Finance Policy Competitive Enterprise Institute

Seton Motley President
Less Government

Ryan Ellis
President
Center for a Free Economy

Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy The Committee for Justice

Christopher Butler Interim Director Digital Liberty

Paul Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation

Dominic M. Calabro President & CEO Florida TaxWatch

Gregg Keller
President
Missouri Century Foundation

Yaël Ossowski
Deputy Director Consumer Choice Center

Bryan Bashur
Executive Director Shareholder Advocacy Forum

Gerard Scimeca
Chairman
Consumer Action for a Strong Economy

Matthew Gagnon
Chief Executive Officer Maine Policy Institute

Andrew Langer President
Institute for Liberty

 

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