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NewsBriefs

offset processing costs. While surcharging is legal in 47 criticizing high credit card fees. Shortly thereafter, Mar-
states, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Puerto shall and Durbin reintroduced the CCCA in the Senate,
Rico still prohibit the practice. In Massachusetts, law- while Reps. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and Zoe Lofgren, D-
makers are considering legislation that would lift the ban Calif., introduced a companion measure in the House.
while capping surcharges at actual processing costs and
requiring clear disclosures. The renewed push coincided with a delay in Senate con-
sideration of the GENIUS Act, a cryptocurrency bill that
The study also reflects broader changes in how consumers Marshall had considered using as a vehicle to advance the
pay, finding that 92 percent of U.S. merchants now accept CCCA. Critics, however, argued the payments proposal
digital wallets, and 58 percent offer buy now, pay later was unrelated to digital asset regulation and would have
options. Credit and debit cards remain nearly universal, complicated the bill's progress.
while check acceptance continues to decline. Cryptocur-
rency acceptance is also rising, with 19 percent of mer- Electronic Transactions Association executive vice presi-
chants now accepting it and growing interest among non- dent Scott Talbott said the CCCA represents unnecessary
accepting businesses. government interference in a competitive payments mar-
ket.
The research found that POS prompts for tips, donations
and surcharges can disrupt checkout and increase transac- Feds foil skimmers and more than
tion abandonment. In terms of provider satisfaction, large $400 million in potential card fraud
banks performed best overall, led by Bank of America,
while software-driven specialists scored strongly among Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies prevent-
startup businesses due to their technology and guidance. ed more than $428 million in potential card fraud in 2025
by disrupting widespread EBT fraud and ATM skimming
CCCA opponents, fans remain resolute operations, according to the U.S. Secret Service. Working
with partner agencies, the Secret Service conducted 22 in-
The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) continues to vestigations nationwide, inspecting more than 60,000 POS
face strong resistance and support in Congress, with de- terminals, gas pumps and ATMs across 9,000 businesses
bate intensifying despite repeated legislative setbacks. in 17 cities. Those efforts led to the removal of 411 skim-
First introduced in 2023 by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., ming devices before criminals could retrieve stolen card
and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the bipartisan bill aims to in- data.
crease competition in credit card processing by requiring
large issuing banks to offer merchants additional routing The investigations, carried out by the Secret Service's
options beyond Visa and Mastercard. Criminal Investigative Division, took place in major met-
ropolitan areas including Los Angeles, New York City,
Supporters argue the measure could reduce merchant fees, Washington, D.C., Boston, Miami, Atlanta and San Diego,
while critics warn it could undermine consumer rewards among others. In several cities, multiple operations were
programs, weaken fraud protections and disrupt existing conducted. The agency said the work reflects a proactive
payment networks. strategy aimed at identifying compromised devices early
Opposition from the banking and payments industry re- and disrupting organized fraud rings.
mains firm.
Law enforcement officials noted a sharp rise in card skim-
In a November 2024 letter to the Senate Judiciary Com- ming, particularly involving EBT cards. These cards are
mittee, a broad coalition of banking and payments trade often more vulnerable because many still rely on magnetic
groups argued the bill would extend debit-routing re- stripe technology rather than EMV chips. Criminals in-
quirements to credit cards, increasing fraud risk and lim- stall skimmers at ATMs, POS terminals and gas pumps to
iting access to credit for consumers and small businesses. capture card data, which is then used to create counterfeit
Community banks and credit unions nationwide have cards or sold on the dark web.
echoed those concerns.
Fraudsters often time withdrawals or purchases to coin-
The bill regained attention in January 2026 after President cide with benefit distribution dates.
Donald Trump posted on X praising the legislation and
The Secret Service estimates skimming schemes cost con-
sumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion an-
Also find us on Facebook, nually. Agents involved in the investigations described
LinkedIn & Twitter for the emotional encounters with store owners who were un-
most up-to-date stories, aware their equipment had been compromised, as well as
victims who lost critical food assistance benefits. Officials
can’t miss events and newest emphasized that the 2025 operations likely protected hun-
industry announcements. dreds of thousands of benefit recipients from losing es-
sential funds.
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