The Credit Card Competition Act is Just Bad Policy

Today, the Taxpayers Protecting Alliance (TPA) launched an interview series highlighting the problems the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) and other attempts at de facto credit-card rate regulation will cause for consumers and small businesses. In the coming weeks, TPA will release a series of conversations with a wide range of businesspeople and subject-matter experts from a variety of fields, showing the far-reaching ripple effects this kind of bad regulation will have for many sectors across the economy.

Proposals like the CCCA say they would increase competition or benefit for consumers. Instead, they are likely to harm both consumers and small businesses and, if history is a guide, only benefit the biggest retailers. From cybersecurity protections to rewards points, consumers rely on the perks and protections their credit cards offer, which proposals like the CCCA would put at risk.

This week, TPA policy analyst David McGarry talks to Nick Simpson of the Electronic Payments Coalition. Nick explains the how many parts of the existing credit-card ecosystem benefits small financial institutions and small businesses, and the two discuss the many unintended consequences that rate regulation could trigger.