Texas:
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Your Card

KEEP BLUE-STATE CREDIT CARD CHAOS OUT OF TEXAS

Mega-stores in Texas are pushing new mandates that would completely upend the way your credit and debit cards work—creating confusion for shoppers, higher costs for small businesses, and the potential to expose information about your private purchases.

These proposals, SB 2026 and HB 4124, would prohibit card issuers and networks from imposing interchange fees on sales tax. The result? The largest corporate retailers would rake in tens of millions, while consumers and local Texas businesses pay the price.

The top 10 mega-stores—which include the likes of Walmart, Amazon, Albertsons, Target and Home Depot—would increase their profits by $6.4 million, while burdening the 3.2 million small businesses in Texas to upgrade their payment systems to comply with the law. In addition, consumers may end up seeing hassles at check-out, including unexpected fees and the necessity of paying charges like tip and sales tax in cash.

And if a legal ruling in Illinois holds, a law like this in Texas might only apply to local banks and credit unions – not the national banks – putting our local banks at a disadvantage vs. their national competitors.

Don’t let corporate mega-stores pull a fast one on Texan shoppers and businesses.

Take Action

Texas cannot afford the credit card chaos SB 2026 and HB 4124 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 and provides a valuable service by facilitating efficient purchases, universal acceptance, and state-of-the-art protections against fraud and personal identity theft.

Contact Your Lawmakers Today

Avoid Credit Card Chaos

SB 2026 and HB 4124 would bring about credit card chaos for both consumers and small businesses, here’s why:

Private information about what consumers are purchasing will be required to be shared, eliminating the privacy protections that exist today.
Under SB 2026 and HB 4124, consumers could be forced to pay sales tax in cash or check. Purchases will require two transactions – one for the goods or services and another for taxes and tip. As retailers look to eliminate the hassle of multiple transactions or filing for monthly refunds, some may be forced to require that tax be paid in cash. Customers who have grown accustomed to shopping with only their phone or a single card will also need to start carrying cash.
Smaller merchants will bear the cost burden of complying with new laws, whether through new technology to separate or itemize transactions or time spent every month gathering paperwork to request a refund for interchange. This requires time most small businesses don’t have and is prohibitively complex for retailers selling products with varying tax rates.
Vendors selling online could decide that doing business in the state is not worth the hassle and expense of complying with this radical change to commerce.

Resources

OPINION: Texas Should Say "I Don't" to Flawed Proposal to Overhaul Credit Card System

Our Local Texas Partners

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