The Credit Card Competition Act puts credit union service to its members and communities in jeopardy, wrote Dade County Federal Credit Union President/CEO George Joseph in The Floridian Friday. Joseph, whose credit union serves 120,000 members and has a low-income designation, said the bill would provide a handout to retailers at the expense of consumers' data privacy and access to affordable credit. 

"Allowing big box retailers to opt for the cheapest, often least secure, payments processor would make credit cards less secure, more expensive to obtain, and limit access to those who most need it," Joseph wrote. "Reduced interchange income means less time and fewer resources dedicated to protecting our members from fraud, issuing replacement cards, and investing in the latest security. It would force us—and other financial services providers around the country—to raise the bar to qualify for credit cards."

He added that Dade County Federal Credit Union received more than 125 merchant data breach alerts last year alone, affecting more than 6,300 accounts, and managed another 4,900 card-related fraud cases.

"I’m not interested in political haggling in Washington, D.C. I’m concerned with the very real, negative impact this bill would have on our members and our ability to meet their needs," Joseph wrote. Our community needs access to safe, affordable credit, especially as the cost of living continues to rise.