The Electronic Payments Coalition opened a Capitol Hill pressure campaign this week warning lawmakers not to extend debit-style routing rules to credit cards, even as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told national banks they may keep charging interchange fees negotiated with payment networks.
For cardholders, the fight is not abstract. Interchange is the slice of every card purchase that flows to the bank that issued the card. That revenue funds rewards programs, chargeback teams, and the interest-free float on purchases paid in full. Retail groups argue the fees inflate shelf prices; banks and networks say cutting interchange would push issuers to raise annual fees or trim cash-back offers.
What Congress is weighing again
The Credit Card Competition Act, backed by large merchants and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, would require banks above a size threshold to enable at least one alternate network on each credit card. Supporters say extra routing options would create price competition on swipe fees similar to what the Durbin Amendment imposed on debit cards in 2010.
Bank trade groups call that comparison misleading. The coalition’s “Fool Me Once” messaging, timed to the Durbin Amendment’s 15-year anniversary, argues debit routing did not deliver the consumer price cuts retailers promised and instead shifted costs toward smaller financial institutions.
Why the OCC rule landed now
In a June 2026 interim final rule, the OCC clarified that national banks may take non-interest charges and fees, including interchange set with third parties such as card networks. The release came as courts reconsidered whether state laws could block interchange on portions of a receipt.
Illinois’ Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which bars interchange on tax and gratuity lines when merchants split those amounts, took effect July 1. A federal district court had briefly blocked the law for national banks, then allowed it to proceed in early 2026. Other states are advancing similar tip-and-tax carveouts, though federal preemption remains a live question for national charters.
Checkout changes shoppers might notice
None of this rewrites the rate printed on your statement tomorrow. What could shift over time is how aggressively issuers market rewards if interchange revenue falls, and whether more merchants experiment with surcharges or cash discounts where card network rules allow.
Separately, a proposed Visa and Mastercard merchant settlement would trim average credit interchange by 10 basis points for five years while loosening some steering rules. Economists debating that deal warn that issuers often recoup lost interchange through higher cardholder fees or weaker benefits.
What to watch if you carry plastic
If you rely on a single rewards card for groceries and travel, track issuer benefit change notices this fall. Congressional action on routing would move on a political calendar, not a billing cycle, but the lobbying spend on both sides signals a serious attempt to change economics before the next election year budgeting fights.
Small-business owners should separate card acceptance costs from sales-tax and tip reporting. State carveout laws only help if your point-of-sale system can transmit tax and gratuity lines cleanly to the processor; botched splits can leave merchants paying interchange on the full ticket anyway.
Consumers do not vote on interchange in a referendum, but the fee stack is built into prices whether you pay with cash or credit. Understanding which lever—Congress, courts, or network settlements—is moving this month makes it easier to judge claims that any single bill will instantly lower grocery bills.
Community banks have joined the Electronic Payments Coalition argument that routing mandates would force them to renegotiate processor contracts they cannot staff overnight. Credit unions warn that losing interchange on a thin margin card portfolio could end no-fee checking bundles that compete with megabank offers.
If you sit on a municipal board debating whether to allow card surcharges at city parking meters, watch the Illinois litigation outcome. A state win on tax carveouts could encourage other legislatures to pass copycat bills before Congress settles the national routing question.