The Big Box interchange bill would reduce funding for fraud protection with little or no consumer savings, Veridian Credit Union CEO Renee Christoffer wrote in The Gazette. CUNA, Leagues, and credit unions strongly oppose the Marshall-Durbin-Gooden-Lofgren bill as introduced earlier this month. 

"This is especially poor timing for legislation that would weaken consumers’ security. Credit card fraud was already the largest type of identity theft in 2021, and fraud rates have doubled between 2011 and 2021," she wrote. "The combination of increased costs for fraud protection and decreased interchange fee contributions from retailers will cause banks and credit unions to reevaluate lending criteria, interest rates, rewards programs and more. Smaller credit card issuers will face being pushed out of the market, resulting in fewer options and less credit accessibility to consumers."

Christoffer also noted that, despite the promises of the Durbin Amendment's similar caps on debit interchange fees, a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond showed that less than 1% of retailers passed that savings on to their customers.