Date: August 15, 2024
Media Contact:
Nick Simpson
Nick@electronicpaymentscoalition.org
WASHINGTON, DC — Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) Executive Chairman Richard Hunt issued a statement supporting a joint lawsuit filed by the Illinois Bankers Association, Illinois Credit Union League, American Bankers Association, and America’s Credit Unions. The lawsuit challenges a new Illinois law that changes how credit and debit cards are processed in the state.
“This new law will result in credit card chaos of the highest order for Illinois residents and small businesses,” said Hunt. “The change was a ploy by corporate mega-stores to pocket more money and slipped into the state’s budget without any public hearing or discussion. No stone will be left unturned to correct this draconian disruption to the safe, secure, hassle-free credit card system Illinois consumers, small businesses and community financial institutions rely on every day.”
The Illinois state budget included a provision to exempt the tax and tip portion of a transaction from the card processing cost known as interchange. This measure has been rejected by over two dozen other state legislatures. Currently, Illinois is the only place in the world with such a law. No existing system can facilitate this change, which could require separate transactions for taxes on purchases, tips to be left in cash, and merchants providing itemized purchase records for each consumer's transaction.
"We believe investing in new technologies and legislating national data security standards will create a stronger payment system," Hunt added.