An amicus brief submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) has brought attention to issues in a new Illinois credit and debit card law, which is set to be implemented on July 1, 2025. The OCC argues that the law, which aims to exclude tax and tip from interchange processing costs, primarily benefits large corporate retailers while causing confusion at checkout points with minimal savings for small businesses.
Richard Hunt, Executive Chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition, echoed the OCC's concerns. "The OCC said it best, the new Illinois law is ‘ill-conceived, highly unusual and largely unworkable’ and would lead to ‘higher fees, reduced services, and weakened fraud protection,’" he stated.
Advocates suggest that investing in new technologies and establishing national data security standards could enhance the payment system's strength.