Texas:
Guard
Your Card

KEEP CREDIT CARD CHAOS OUT OF TEXAS

Large retailers in Texas are pushing two new mandates that, taken together, could upend the way your credit and debit cards work — eliminating guaranteed acceptance of credit cards, forcing higher costs and lost revenues for small businesses, and frustrating consumers who could be made to carry cash for their purchases.

While different, both bills cause significant chaos in the payments system:

HB 4061/SB 2056 would require every single business in Texas to individually negotiate a credit card processing deal with 280 banks around the world – a radical change from the system in place today that allows businesses to accept all cards with a single agreement.

Under SB2026/HB4124, consumers may end up having to pay for sales tax and tips with cash or check. While small business owners will need to invest thousands of dollars in upgraded technology the bill could also diminish income for tipped workers if diners are unable to tip with credit and debit cards.

The result? The mega-retailers would rake in tens of millions, while consumers and local Texas businesses pay the price. These bills would burden 3.2 million small businesses in Texas with chaos at the register and angry customers, all while the largest retailers in the country profit.

And if courts get involved, like they have in other states, these potential Texas laws might only apply to credit cards provided by local banks and credit unions — not the national banks — putting our local banks at a disadvantage vs. their national competitors.

Taken together, these bills lead to massive amounts of red tape for the 3.2M small business owners that are the lifeblood of the Texas economy. Don’t let these mega-retailers pull a fast one on Texan shoppers, businesses, and local financial institutions.