WASHINGTON—A long-stalled bipartisan push to boost competition in the credit card market moved closer to becoming law late Friday, as Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) advanced a new amendment attached to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s markup of the Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act, commonly known as the Clarity Act.
Dick Durbin
The amendment, a core component of the long-debated Credit Card Competition Act, would prohibit major credit-card networks and large issuing banks from enforcing network exclusivity on credit cards. Supporters argue the measure would expand transaction-routing competition, weaken the dominance of the largest payment networks, and reduce swipe fees that merchants say inflate consumer prices.
The renewed momentum reflects President Trump’s recent backing of efforts to rein in credit card costs, a shift that has altered the political trajectory of legislation that has struggled to advance in prior Congresses. With Trump’s support, the Marshall–Durbin framework is now viewed by advocates as having its strongest chance in years to secure passage.
Under the amendment, large card issuers—defined as institutions with more than $100 billion in consolidated assets—would be barred from limiting merchants’ ability to route credit-card transactions across competing payment networks. The proposal also authorizes federal and state enforcement, directs the Federal Reserve to monitor network market share, and sets an implementation timeline following enactment.
If enacted, the measure would mark one of the most significant structural changes to the U.S. credit-card payments ecosystem in years, reshaping network competition and intensifying regulatory pressure on dominant card brands.
DCUC Responds
“DCUC strongly opposes any effort by Senators Dick Durbin, Roger Marshall, and Peter Welch to attach the Durbin–Marshall Credit Card Competition Act to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s digital assets market-structure markup," Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak told CUToday.info. "This proposal has nothing to do with digital asset policy and has never been considered through regular order in the Senate Banking Committee, where issues of payments, interchange, and consumer credit properly belong. Using a bipartisan digital assets framework as a vehicle to advance a sweeping and highly controversial overhaul of the U.S. payments system is a backdoor maneuver that undermines the integrity of the legislative process.
“DCUC has been clear and consistent: government-mandated interchange changes do not benefit consumers," continued Stverak. "The experience of prior interchange mandates shows that promised savings do not flow to cardholders, while financial institutions—particularly credit unions—lose critical revenue used to fund fraud prevention, cybersecurity investments, rewards programs, and member services. For military families, young servicemembers, and veterans, the result is reduced access to safe, affordable credit and weaker protections against fraud and abuse."
If adopted, the Durbin–Marshall proposal would inject uncertainty into the payments ecosystem, increase fraud risk, and weaken consumer confidence, all while delivering a windfall to large retailers at the expense of everyday Americans, Stverak said.
"Major policy changes of this magnitude should be debated transparently, on their own merits, and within the committees of jurisdiction—not attached to unrelated legislation in an effort to bypass scrutiny. DCUC urges Senate leadership to keep the digital assets markup narrowly focused and to reject any attempt to fold unrelated interchange mandates into this process,” Stverak said.
Washington credit union advocate John McKechnie reminded that retailers will not give up.
"Win or lose, I think the fact that Senator Marshall is offering this amendment should remind all of us in the credit union world that the retailers are going to try any and all avenues to get credit card price controls passed," McKechnie said. "In other words, stay on your toes, probably for the rest of the year."
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