FMI Condemns Federal Regulatory Action on State Swipe Fee Reform

OCC Rules Contradict President Trump's Affordability Agenda

Arlington, VA - Today, FMI - The Food Industry Association condemned in the strongest terms the action taken by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), banking regulators under the U.S. Treasury Department, to issue two interim final rules that override the Illinois swipe fee reform law and to prohibit other states from enacting swipe fee reform laws.

FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin stated, "At a time when the largest banks and credit card networks are pulling in record profits on the backs of grocers, main street businesses and millions of American consumers through credit card swipe fees, it is incredibly shortsighted that the OCC banking regulators chose to pursue an opaque end-run around state lawmakers and the Courts at the behest of the credit card networks and the nation's largest banks."

Grocers and other merchants act as state and local governments' agents in the collection and submission of state and local sales and excise taxes. The Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, set to take effect this summer, prohibits the imposition of credit card swipe fees on the state and local sales and excise tax and gratuities portion of any sale in the state. Other states are considering similar legislation.

Sarasin continued, "Grocers and consumers are being taxed twice for this official government duty by having to pay credit card swipe fees to the card networks and nation's largest banks just because we are a pass-through agent for state and local government taxes. In 2024 alone, these taxes on taxes resulted in nearly $11 billion in swipe fees to the card networks and largest banks on sales tax collection. OCC's action is particularly alarming considering President Trump has prioritized bringing down costs for businesses and the customers they rely on by endorsing the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) to reform the credit card market."

She concluded, "We urge the OCC to rescind this egregious tax on a tax rulemaking that flies in the face of President Trump's agenda on affordability and focus its efforts instead on the predatory practices of these financial institutions."