The Credit Card Competition Act from Sens. Roger Marshall and Dick Durbin would limit the ability of credit unions to offer low- and no-annual-cost payment cards, Meritrust President/CEO James Nastars wrote in the Kansas City Star Friday. Nastars, the board chair for the Heartland Credit Union Association, responded to an op-ed from Marshall about the bill. 

"Improving the payments ecosystem means investing in technology to make them faster and more secure.," he wrote. "Instead, this bill would allow the nation’s largest retailers to bypass established secure payment networks at the expense of consumers and small businesses. We must ensure that every entity with access to consumer credit card data has equal responsibility to prevent fraud, which is disruptive and expensive for consumers.

For years, credit unions have asked Congress for this kind of data-security legislation," he added. "Instead, the Credit Card Competition Act undermines consumers’ security."

CUNA joined all Leagues, the American Bankers Association, and all state banking associations this week to voice strong opposition to the bill. CUNA also issued an action alert last week calling on credit unions to send messages of opposition to Capitol Hill. More than 15,000 messages have been sent.