FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                    

Kansas Banking Groups Oppose Durbin 2.0 Government Mandate

CBAK & KBA Opposing S. 4674                                

Topeka, Kan, August 5, 2022: The Kansas Bankers Association (KBA) and Community Bankers Association of Kansas (CBAK) are joining forces to oppose federal legislation (S. 4674) co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D – Illinois) and U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R – Kansas) that would force banks to contract with multiple credit card routing companies, which would have a chilling effect on banks’ ability to offer a diverse array of credit card products that consumers have come to value greatly.  This proposal, which is falsely being touted as a mechanism to increase competition, will in fact reduce the ability of banks to provide the most innovative and most secure credit card products in today’s marketplace. Simply put, it will negatively impact banks and their customers, while bolstering the profits of big-box retailers and e-commerce giants that already benefit greatly from the strongest financial services network in the world. Merchant groups supporting this bill are asking the federal government to grant them control over credit card processing without any new requirements for those same merchants to tackle ever-growing fraud and security concerns at the merchant level.