Connecticut:
Guard
Your Card

What’s at Stake in Connecticut

Connecticut lawmakers have introduced legislation to completely upend the way your credit and debit cards work – creating confusion for consumers, higher costs for small businesses and jeopardizing your privacy.

Interchange benefits business and consumers

Businesses pay a small percentage of each purchase – approx. 2% – for credit and debit card processing services. That fraction is used to safeguard credit card networks, prevent fraud, and fund reward programs families of all incomes use for essentials like groceries and gas or to help afford family trips.

But bills in Connecticut would create a carveout so the tax portion of your purchase is processed differently.

A massive handout to corporate mega-stores

So why change the easy, convenient, hassle-free and secure credit and debit card system we rely on every day? Because corporate mega-stores, grocery conglomerates, and the largest convenience store chains are trying to pocket more money.

A burden to small businesses & consumers—and the small, local community banks and credit unions that serve them.

But small businesses can’t afford this change. If SB 1460 passes, Connecticut small business owners, who are already on tight margins, could have to pay for new card processing systems and implementation of new accounting headaches.

Worse yet, to ensure your transaction is accurately processed under the new changes, businesses could have to share additional information about the purchases you make –potentially compromising your privacy.

For Connecticut’s small, local community banks and credit unions, interchange fees help cover the real costs of maintaining debit card programs, which include cybersecurity, fraud prevention, 24/7 customer service, and transaction processing.

This is why no other state in the country or no other country around the world currently processes credit and debit card transactions this way. In fact, 29 other states have rejected this idea because of the impact and hurdles it would have on commerce across the state – just so the big corporations can make more money.

Stay Informed

Connecticut cannot afford the credit card chaos SB 1460 will cause. Small businesses cannot afford the new costs and cardholders will not tolerate the loss of convenience and privacy these new changes will bring – just so corporate mega-stores and nationwide convenience chains can pocket more money. The current credit and debit card processing system works for consumers and provides a valuable service to small businesses by facilitating efficient purchases, universal acceptance and state-of-the-art protections against fraud and personal identity theft.

Avoid Credit Card Chaos

Who pays the price if the legislation moves forward?

Small businesses would need to upgrade their point-of-sale technology and deal with new accounting headaches — while getting little of the benefit corporate megastores would receive.

Consumers could have to pay for sales tax in cash if the bill moves forward, and private information about what consumers are purchasing will be required to be shared. What’s more, because interchange is what makes rewards and points possible for consumers, reductions to interchange will also reduce the rewards they receive.

Local banks and credit unions would be put at a disadvantage against national competitors as a ruling on similar legislation in Illinois and an opinion from the Maryland Attorney General indicates the law would only apply to your local community bank and credit union, many solely serving public service employees and retirees.

The state would need to use scarce resources to defend legislation that is pre-empted by federal law.

Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition

www.electronicpaymentscoalition.org

1747 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20006