The Senate passed its FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Thursday night without the interchange amendment CUNA, Leagues, and credit unions fought to exclude. Sponsors of the big box interchange bill attempted to push the bill through as an NDAA amendment.

“CUNA, Leagues, credit unions, and members spoke in a united voice that the big box interchange bill does not belong in a bill funding our servicemembers, and we thank senators for listening making it clear during this week’s vote,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “The data is clear: this bill would be an even more costly repeat of the Durbin Amendment, and one our communities can’t afford. We’ll continue to push back against this bill at every turn to prevent it from moving forward.”

CUNA and Leagues issued an action alert last week calling on stakeholders to contact Senators to oppose attaching the bill to the NDAA, resulting in more than 25,000 messages of opposition sent within the week. More than 70,000 messages of opposition have been sent through CUNA’s Grassroots Action Center since the bill was introduced.

CUNA also released a study earlier this month showing that the Durbin Amendment’s debit card mandates brought many negative impacts, and the big box interchange bill would be even more costly for consumers and financial institutions.