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A group of organizations, including the Illinois Bankers
Association, asked a federal judge for an injunction blocking
the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act from taking effect next
year.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said the act was the best outcome for
Illinois retailers, who will also be capped in the discount they
get for collecting and remitting sales taxes.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association said the law would
provide tangible relief to Illinois workers, families and
businesses by limiting the fees financial institutions can
charge on transactions.
"The U.S. credit card industry will still collect the highest
fees in the world, even with the Illinois law in place,” said
National Association of Convention Stores General Counsel Doug
Kantor. “There is no justification for slowing the Illinois law
from taking effect.”
On Wednesday, attorney Charlotte Taylor with the firm Jones Day
argued that banks have a right to charge fees.
“They are providing the card holder with a service. They’re
going out and marketing their cards to card holders. They’re
taking on the liability of credit cards and the state of
Illinois is saying that for every 10 cents for every dollar you
aren’t going to get paid for that which I think is extreme
interference,” said Taylor.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency, the agent in the U.S.
Department of the Treasury that regulates banks, filed a brief
that called the new law ill-conceived, highly unusual and
largely unworkable.
The Center for Legal Action for the American Free Enterprise
Chamber of Commerce also filed an amicus brief. The brief laid
out ways Illinois' law would upend the principles of the
National Bank Act of 1863, passed during the Civil War and
designed to bring uniformity to the banking system.
The Electronic Payments Coalition said the Illinois law is an
example of troubling self-dealing by a state government.
The law is set to take effect July 1, 2025, unless a court steps
in and blocks the implementation of the legislation. |
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