Durbin Receives National Retail Federation’s 2026 Champion Of Main Street Award

Durbin Receives National Retail Federation's 2026 Champion Of Main Street Award

Durbin receives award in honor of his leadership addressing the high cost of debit and credit card interchange fees & efforts to curb organized retail crime

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), author of the Durbin Amendment and the Credit Card Competition Act, received the National Retail Federation's (NRF) 2026 Champion of Main Street Award in honor of his leadership to address the high cost of debit and credit card interchange fees and his efforts to curb organized retail crime.

"As Americans are struggling with the rising cost of everyday essentials, I've made it a priority in Congress to put money back in their pockets. One way we can start is by challenging outrageous interchange fees," said Durbin. "Throughout these battles against the Big Banks, I have been fortunate to have organizations like the National Retail Federation in my corner. I'm honored to receive the 2026 Champion of Main Street Award and will continue to fight on behalf of merchants and consumers."

A photo of Durbin receiving the award can be found here.

In Congress, Durbin has made it a priority to protect consumers. The Durbin Amendment, which passed in 2010, addressed debit card interchange fees. The Durbin Amendment sought to reduce the billions of dollars per year in excessive debit interchange fees that were being charged to merchants, and which were borne ultimately by consumers in the form of higher retail prices.

Durbin and U.S. Senator Roger Marshall's (R-KS) Credit Card Competition Act would direct the Federal Reserve to ensure that the largest credit card-issuing banks offer a choice of at least two networks over which an electronic credit transaction may be processed. Today, Visa and Mastercard control about 85 percent of the credit card market and refuse to negotiate fair terms with Main Street merchants. Currently, the average American family pays nearly $1,200 per year in swipe fees, while banks profit $111.2 billion annually from swipe fees.

Durbin and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy's (R-LA) INFORM Consumers Act, which was signed into law in December 2022 and went into effect in June 2023, requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose certain information about high-volume third-party sellers who offer new or unused consumer products for sale on the platform. INFORM's goal is to add more transparency to online transactions and deter criminals from acquiring stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe items and selling them through these marketplaces.

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