Florida credit unions call on senators to oppose 'big box' interchange bill

The big box interchange bill would create costly new regulations and make consumers' financial data vulnerable, League of Southeastern Credit Unions and Affiliates President Samantha Beeler wrote in The Florida Standard. The League also wrote letters to Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rick Scott asking them to oppose the bill, and the letter was covered by Florida Politics.

"The so-called Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) would require payment networks that do not have the same investment in security, fraud prevention, and liability protections as other more established networks, allowing foreign-owned networks to process and handle the data for American consumers’ financial transaction," she wrote.  

Beeler noted Scott and Rubio's bills introduced to protect against Chinese influence, including in the financial sector and a proposed TikTok ban, and said the interchange bill would pose similar security threats. 

"Our senators have been proactively countering these threats, but now we need their leadership to stop their colleagues from passing a self-inflicted wound that would make their work much harder," she wrote. "If you are worried about our enemies accessing public data, imagine the danger that may lie ahead if they could reach our most sensitive and private financial information."

Beeler also added the legislation would be "devastating for consumers" while bringing huge profits to some of the nation's largest corporations.