Interchange Fight, Open Banking Rule Loom Over Credit Unions During August Recess
By CU Today Staff —
WASHINGTON—Congress may be out of town, but credit unions are using the August recess to prepare for a potentially consequential September, with the industry focusing on a newly strengthened Credit Card Competition Act, a pending CFPB open banking rule and several legislative vehicles that could become battlegrounds when lawmakers return.
Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak said the recess represents “one of the most important opportunities credit unions have to educate lawmakers before the legislative calendar accelerates in September.”
At the top of the agenda is the Credit Card Competition Act, S. 3623, after Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WO), Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Angus King (I-ME) joined the bill before the Senate departed. The additions give the measure six Senate sponsors and, significantly for the industry, Lummis and Moreno are the first members of the Senate Banking Committee to back it and their move to sponsor to the bill appears to many Washington insiders as “political retribution” for the bank’s lobbying against the Clarity Act championed by both senators.
DCUC plans to use the recess to meet with lawmakers and their staffs while watching for efforts to attach the legislation to the Clarity Act, National Defense Authorization Act, farm bill or another moving vehicle.
“DCUC will seek direct conversations with the three new cosponsors and their staffs, particularly Senators Lummis and Moreno as members of Senate Banking, and work with every office willing to examine the evidence. But credit unions serving those who serve cannot be treated as collateral damage in a political dispute they did not create,” Stverak said.
America’s Credit Unions also recognized the new CCCA threat.
“Consumers expect a safe, convenient, and reliable payments system for everyday transactions and long-term financial security. Policy disagreements should not be used to undermine that system, and America’s Credit Unions is disappointed to see the misguided Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) be used as a bargaining tactic in response to an unrelated debate,” ACU Chief Advocacy Officer Kathleen Coulombe said. “The CCCA would prohibit critical interchange funds that provide affordable access to credit for working Americans. It is irresponsible for policymakers to look to punish hard working Americans and the institutions that serve them only for negotiations. America’s Credit Unions urges the Senate to once again reject this hurtful legislation.”
Another issue moving outside the Capitol is the CFPB's open banking rule implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which has been sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. America’s Credit Unions said it opposes the rule as currently written because it believes the proposal creates unbalanced liability protections between regulated financial institutions and third parties, and the group will be watching OIRA and the CFPB during the recess.
Digital assets and government funding will also be waiting when Congress returns. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the Clarity Act before lawmakers left Washington, preserving the possibility of floor action in September, although negotiations over the legislation remain unresolved. Stverak said DCUC will press for explicit credit union and CUSO authority under the framework and participation by NCUA and state credit union regulators.
Meanwhile, the Senate passed its version of a continuing resolution to fund the government into December, leaving the House to act on that measure or reconcile differences when lawmakers return.
DCUC also plans to use the recess to advance its military-spouse financial-readiness initiative after asking Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to make financial readiness a permanent pillar of the President’s Military Spouse Commission and to give defense credit unions a role in its work. Stverak emphasized that military families face employment disruptions, childcare and housing costs, permanent-change-of-station expenses, fraud risks and challenges associated with overseas assignments, and it wants defense credit unions involved while the commission develops recommendations rather than after they are completed.
One significant piece of unfinished credit union business did move forward before the recess: the Senate confirmed John Crews to the NCUA board as part of an en bloc nominations package. America’s Credit Unions noted, however, that Crews still requires an official appointment from President Donald Trump before he can be sworn in as NCUA chairman. With the Senate scheduled to return to regular session Sept. 14, Stverak said the immediate focus shifts away from floor votes and toward state meetings, congressional staff briefings, coalition work and preparations for September fights over interchange, digital assets, government funding and the FY2027 NDAA.
Originally reported by CU Today.