Stverak: Big box interchange bill would harm everyone but biggest retailers

CUNA Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer for Federal Government Affairs Jason Stverak spoke with CBS21 on credit unions' efforts against the big box interchange bill and how it would negatively impact everyone except the biggest retailers. 

"Many credit unions, small or larger, we rely on that interchange fee to fund operations," Stverak said, adding "this move to force additional; payment processors will lead to a race to the bottom, where the first thing to be cut is security."

Stverak noted that the Durbin Amendment's caps on debit interchange fee led to bigger retailer profits, not consumer savings. 

"You can go back and look at what happened with debit card interchange caps. A study by the Richmond Fed and [Government Accountability Office] found the majority of savings were not passed along to consumers, resulting in additional profit for the big box retailers like Target and Walmart...now they want even more of the money coming out of your pocket.