At a Washington mini-conference, an industry advocate said lawmakers may have slowed the Durbin-Marshall bill but could still advance it through other legislative vehicles.

What was once expected to be a brief legislative skirmish over credit card interchange fees has become a prolonged campaign, Nick Simpson told credit union leaders Tuesday at the Defense Credit Union Council’s Defense Matters conference at the Marriott Marquis.

Simpson, managing director of communications and public affairs for the Electronic Payments Coalition, said the industry had initially anticipated a vote on the Durbin-Marshall credit card bill in late 2023 or early 2024. Instead, no hearing has been held and no vote taken. The bill was reintroduced this year with fewer sponsors.

Simpson credited the Defense Credit Union Council and its member institutions for helping slow the measure’s momentum, saying lawmakers are hearing directly from credit unions that would be affected by the proposed mandates.

But he warned that the threat has not disappeared.

“They only have to get it right once. We have to get it right every time,” Simpson said, pointing to multiple legislative “vehicles” still in play this year, including the National Defense Authorization Act, appropriations bills and other moving measures that could potentially carry interchange language.

Simpson argued that the proposal would fundamentally alter how credit cards are processed, with consequences for fraud protection, cybersecurity safeguards, rewards programs and lending. Claims that the bill would reduce consumer prices, he said, overlook evidence from earlier debit card changes in which savings were not passed on. At this stage, he added, the consequences can no longer be described as “unintended.”

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His advice to credit unions preparing for meetings on Capitol Hill was to focus on their mission of serving military families, offer concrete examples of operational impact and stress the importance of consumer choice. Lawmakers, he said, need to hear from hometown institutions — not only Washington lobbyists — about how interchange policy debates translate into real-world effects.

Defense Matters was held alongside America’s Credit Unions’ annual Governmental Affairs Conference, which drew roughly 6,200 executives and advocates to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The gathering underscored the industry’s coordinated push to shape federal policy.

Also addressing the Defense Matters audience were Brig. Gen. Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, and credit union advocate John McKechnie. McKechnie said that while Capitol Hill logistics may be more chaotic this year, with heightened security and longer wait times to access government buildings, the policy environment is notably improved compared with 2025.

America’s Credit Unions has launched a national advertising campaign urging Congress to reject the Credit Card Competition Act, also known as the Durbin-Marshall credit card mandates bill.

“The Durbin-Marshall credit card mandates are a solution in search of a problem that will ultimately make credit less accessible and everyday purchases less secure for middle class families,” said Scott Simpson, president and CEO of America’s Credit Unions.

For credit unions, Nick Simpson suggested, the message is clear: the interchange debate may have slowed, but it remains very much alive.

“We do this work because we believe in building stronger communities — and a better, brighter future.”

– Anthony Hernandez
President & CEO
DCUC