I am proud to call Colorado home and to represent my neighbors in Jefferson County in the State House. As a member of the Business Affairs and Labor Committee, it is my priority to protect Jefferson County consumers and the almost 18,000 businesses that call Jefferson County home. My commitment to the economic wellbeing of our communities is why I must speak out against a bill that is under consideration in the U.S. Senate.
I am talking about the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), a bill under consideration in Congress. Mega retailers and their lobbyists are pushing this legislation under the guise of promoting competition by forcing banks to expose your sensitive financial data to less secure payment networks. They claim this will lower interchange fees (the cost of processing a transaction) and allow them to pass savings to consumers. But we already know that this won’t be the case.
Corporate greed, not interchange fees, is driving up costs for consumers. According to a report by consumer rights think tank Groundwork Collaborative, corporate profits drove 53% of inflation last year. Now, big box retailers want Congress to pass the CCCA so they can pocket even more money for themselves.
According to a study by the University of Miami, the nation’s five largest retailers – Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Kroger, and Costco – are set to pocket an additional $1.2 billion from this bill while consumers are unlikely to have those savings passed on to them. We know that they will not use their windfall to lower costs at the register because we have been down this path before.
When Congress implemented a similar regulation on debit cards in 2010, the same big box retailers raked in over $100 billion. Despite their massive savings, nearly all of them either kept prices the same or even raised them, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. It’s a tale as old as time: the big box stores get richer while consumers are forced to bear the cost.
The CCCA is more than a threat to prices; it would also take away the rewards small businesses earn when they use credit cards for business expenses. Those rewards support the businesses’ bottom lines and enable them to invest in their employees. The University of Miami study estimates that the CCCA would cost small businesses about $1 billion in lost rewards. That might seem insignificant to the multi billion-dollar corporations lobbying Congress to pass this bill, but for many small businesses in my community, it could be the difference between staying afloat or closing shop.
The evidence is clear: the CCCA serves the interests of giant corporations at the expense of consumers, small businesses, and financial security. It’s just another attempt by big box retailers to disadvantage small businesses and pad their bottom line while American families struggle to make ends meet.
Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper have been champions for Colorado’s consumers and small businesses. I urge them to continue to stand up for Coloradans and to shut down this billion-dollar giveaway to mega retailers.
State Rep. Sheila Lieder was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2022. She represents House District 28, which includes parts of Lakewood and Littleton.
