(The Center Square) – The Illinois Bankers Association says Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin writing a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is “missing the forest for the trees.”
An Illinois law that goes into effect in 2025 seeks to bar interchange fee collection on taxes and tips, which sparked a legal fight with the banks. Illinois Bankers Association v. Raoul is now being litigated in federal court with financial institutions suing to block the law’s implementation.
In a friend of the court brief, Durbin, D-Springfield, urged the OCC to clarify its understanding of interchange laws. Durbin accused the OCC of making incorrect statements in an amicus brief submitted in the case.
Carolyn Settanni, executive vice president and general counsel for the Illinois Bankers Association, said Durbin filed his own amicus brief and the judge can decide if the OCC made “incorrect statements.”
“This Illinois law is going to unleash chaos on Illinois consumers, small businesses and community financial institutions and it is going to happen in a matter of months unless the court steps in, which we have requested,” said Settanni. “The special interest here is the mega retailers and they are trying to increase their bottom line by forcing the entire payment industry to make this huge change in a way that will benefit mega retailers but won’t benefit smaller players and certainly not Illinois consumers and community financial institutions.”