I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2382 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit unfair practices in electronic 

payment system networks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2009 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. BARROW, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. 

ELLISON, Mr. KAGEN, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, and Mr. 

PLATTS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit unfair practices in electronic payment system networks, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit Card Inter5 change Fees Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN UNFAIR CREDIT AND 

2 FUND TRANSFER PRACTICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Truth in Lending Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new chapter: 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—PROHIBITION ON UNFAIR 

7 PRACTICES IN ELECTRONIC PAYMENT 

8 SYSTEM NETWORKS 

‘‘Sec. 191. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 192. Additional charges on merchants and consumers for premium payment cards prohibited. 

‘‘Sec. 193. Certain creditor or credit card network-imposed restrictions on merchants prohibited. 

‘‘Sec. 194. Fair and transparent transactions. 

‘‘Sec. 195. Enforcement. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 191. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘For purposes of this title, the following definitions 

11 shall apply: 

12 ‘‘(1) CHARGE CARD.—The term charge card 

13 has the same meaning as in section 127(c)(4)(E). 

14 ‘‘(2) DEBIT CARD.—The term ‘debit card’ 

15 means any card or other device issued by a financial 

16 institution (as defined in section 903(8)) to a con17 sumer for use in initiating electronic fund transfers 

18 (as defined in section 903(6)) from the account of 

19 the consumer at such financial institution for the 

20 purpose of transferring money between accounts or 

21 obtaining money, property, labor, or services. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM NET2 WORK.—The term ‘electronic payment system net3 work’ means a network that provides, through li4 censed members, processors, or agents— 

5 ‘‘(A) for the issuance of payment cards (by 

6 credit card issuers in the case of a credit card, 

7 charge card issuers in the case of a charge 

8 card, or financial institutions (as defined in sec9 tion 903(8)) in the case of debit cards) bearing 

10 any logo of the network; 

11 ‘‘(B) the proprietary services and infra12 structure that route information and data to fa13 cilitate transaction authorization, clearance, and 

14 settlement that merchants must access in order 

15 to accept payment cards bearing any logo of the 

16 network as payment for goods and services; and 

17 ‘‘(C) for the screening and acceptance of 

18 merchants into the network in order to allow 

19 such merchants to accept payment cards bear20 ing any logo of the network as payment for 

21 goods and services. 

22 ‘‘(4) LICENSED MEMBER.—The term ‘licenced 

23 member’, in connection with any electronic payment 

24 system network, includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any creditor or charge card issuer 

2 that is authorized to issue credit cards or 

3 charge cards bearing any logo of the network; 

4 ‘‘(B) any financial institution (as defined 

5 in section 903(8)) that is authorized to issue 

6 debit cards to consumers who maintain ac7 counts at such institution; and 

8 ‘‘(C) any person, including any financial 

9 institution, on occasion referred to as an 

10 ‘acquirer’ that is authorized— 

11 ‘‘(i) to screen and accept merchants 

12 into any program under which any pay13 ment card bearing any logo of such net14 work may be accepted by the merchant for 

15 payment for goods or services; 

16 ‘‘(ii) to process transactions on behalf 

17 of any such merchant for payment; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) to complete financial settlement 

19 of any such transaction on behalf of such 

20 merchant. 

21 ‘‘(5) MERCHANT.—The term ‘merchant’ means 

22 any person in the business of selling or providing 

23 any good or service for consideration. 


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1 ‘‘(6) PAYMENT CARD.—The term ‘payment 

2 card’ means a credit card, a charge card, or a debit 

3 card. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 192. ADDITIONAL CHARGES ON MERCHANTS AND 

5 CONSUMERS FOR PREMIUM PAYMENT CARDS 

6 PROHIBITED. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An electronic payment system 

8 network may not, directly or through any agent, processor, 

9 or licensed member of the network, require or permit any 

10 merchant to pay any interchange, processing, or other fee 

11 in connection with any payment card transaction initiated 

12 through a premium payment card in any amount in excess 

13 of the amount of any such interchange, processing, or 

14 other fee that would be imposed in connection with such 

15 payment card transactions if initiated through a nonpre16 mium payment card. 

17 ‘‘(b) PREMIUM DEFINITION.—For purposes of sub18 section (a), the following definitions shall apply: 

19 ‘‘(1) PREMIUM PAYMENT CARD.—The term 

20 ‘premium payment card’ means a payment card that 

21 provides rewards or other cardholder benefits or 

22 services for the use of the card other than those ben23 efits offered to any customer within the electronic 

24 payment system network. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NONPREMIUM PAYMENT CARD.—The term 

2 ‘nonpremium payment card’ means a payment card 

3 bearing any logo of an electronic payment system 

4 network that is not a premium payment card. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 193. CERTAIN CREDITOR OR CREDIT CARD NET6 WORK-IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS ON MER7 CHANTS PROHIBITED. 

8 ‘‘(a) PRICING DISPLAY RESTRICTIONS.—With re9 spect to any credit card which may be used for extensions 

10 of credit through an electronic payment system network 

11 in connection with sales transactions in which the mer12 chant is a person other than the card issuer, the electronic 

13 payment system network may not, directly or through any 

14 agent, processor, or licensed member of the network, by 

15 contract, or otherwise, restrict the merchant’s discretion 

16 as to how to display or advertise the merchant’s prices. 

17 ‘‘(b) HONOR ALL CARDS RULE.—An electronic pay18 ment system network may not, directly or through any 

19 agent, processor, or licensed member of the network, pro20 hibit any merchant that otherwise accepts payment cards 

21 bearing any logo of the network from refusing to accept 

22 any particular type of card due to its cost, except that 

23 the seller may be prohibited from refusing to accept a pay24 ment card issued by a particular creditor or financial insti25 tution without respect to any cost differences. 


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1 ‘‘(c) STEERING CONSUMERS.—An electronic payment 

2 system network may not, directly or through any agent, 

3 processor, or licensed member of the network, by contract, 

4 or otherwise, inhibit the ability of any merchant to direct 

5 consumers to the merchant’s preferred form of payment. 

6 ‘‘(d) SINGLE ENTITY RULE.—An electronic payment 

7 system network may not, directly or through any agent, 

8 processor, or licensed member of the network, by contract, 

9 or otherwise, require any merchant to accept payment 

10 cards at 1 or more business locations in order to be able 

11 to accept payment cards at another business location. 

12 ‘‘(e) CHARGEBACKS FOR TRANSACTIONS ON CERTAIN

13 POS TERMINALS THAT EXCEED THE ALLOWABLE

14 AMOUNT ON SUCH DEVICES.—An electronic payment sys15 tem network may not, directly or through any agent, proc16 essor, or licensed member of the network, by contract, or 

17 otherwise, allow or require a chargeback to any merchant 

18 for any payment involving any payment and transfer initi19 ated by the consumer at a point-of-sale terminal operated 

20 by the merchant on the basis that the amount of the trans21 action exceeded any preauthorized or predetermined 

22 amount for such terminal. 

23 ‘‘(f) MERCHANTS PERMITTED TO ESTABLISH MIN24 IMUM OR MAXIMUM AMOUNTS FOR PAYMENT BY PAY25 MENT CARDS.—An electronic payment system network 


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1 may not, directly or through any agent, processor, or li2 censed member of the network, by contract, or otherwise, 

3 prohibit any merchant from setting any maximum amount 

4 or minimum amount for the use of a payment card bearing 

5 any logo of such network by a consumer to pay for a trans6 action with such merchant. 

7 ‘‘(g) RESTRICTIONS ON NETWORK ROUTING PROHIB8 ITED.—An electronic payment system network may not, 

9 directly or through any agent, processor, or licensed mem10 ber of the network, by contract, or otherwise, prohibit any 

11 merchant from directing the routing of payment card 

12 transactions for processing in the way chosen by the mer13 chant. 

14 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON ANY MINIMUM REQUIREMENT

15 FOR NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS.—An electronic payment 

16 system network may not, directly or through any agent, 

17 processor, or licensed member of the network, by contract, 

18 or otherwise— 

19 ‘‘(1) impose a requirement on any merchant to 

20 meet any minimum number of transactions, in any 

21 period, in which the consumers pay for such trans22 actions using a payment card bearing any logo of 

23 such network; or 

24 ‘‘(2) impose a fee on, or take any other action 

25 that is adverse to the interests of, a merchant for 


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1 the failure of the merchant to meet any minimum 

2 number of such transactions in any period. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 194. FAIR AND TRANSPARENT TRANSACTIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE OF CONTRACT TERMS.—An elec5 tronic payment system network, and any agent, processor, 

6 or licensed member of the network, may not establish or 

7 maintain, directly or indirectly by contract or through a 

8 licensing arrangement, any agreement with a merchant, 

9 unless the network, agent, processor, or licensed member 

10 has made available to the merchant all of the rules, terms, 

11 and conditions to which such merchant will be bound 

12 under such agreement, including the complete operating 

13 rules of the relevant payment system using payment cards 

14 bearing any logo of such network, without restrictions on 

15 the merchant’s use of any such information. 

16 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF RULES, TERMS, AND AGREE17 MENTS.—The Federal Trade Commission shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) prescribe regulations to— 

19 ‘‘(A) ensure that all of the rules, terms, 

20 and conditions to which a merchant or con21 sumer is subject under an agreement with an 

22 electronic payment system network, or any 

23 agent, processor, or licensed member of the net24 work, directly or indirectly, by contract or 

25 through a licensing arrangement, are not unfair 


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1 or deceptive to consumers and merchants and 

2 are not anticompetitive; and 

3 ‘‘(B) prohibit any unfair or deceptive act 

4 or practice or anticompetitive act or practice 

5 that may otherwise be permitted under or result 

6 from any rule, term, or condition described in 

7 subparagraph (A); and 

8 ‘‘(2) regularly review all of the rules, terms, and 

9 conditions described in paragraph (1)(A) established 

10 by each electronic payment system network, or any 

11 agent, processor, or licensed member of the network. 

12 ‘‘(c) INTERCHANGE AND OTHER FEES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF IN14 FORMATION.—The Board shall collect, publish, and 

15 disseminate to the public— 

16 ‘‘(A) complete information on the inter17 change, processing and other fees charged by 

18 each electronic payment system network, or any 

19 agent, processor, or licensed member of the net20 work, in connection with any aspect of trans21 actions initiated by consumers using payment 

22 cards bearing any logo of such network, includ23 ing fees imposed by the payment card issuer in 

24 connection with any such transaction; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) all of the rules, terms, and conditions 

2 to which a merchant or a consumer is subject 

3 under an agreement with an electronic payment 

4 system network, or any agent, processor, or li5 censed member of the network, directly or indi6 rectly by contract or through a licensing ar7 rangement for transactions indicated by con8 sumers using payment cards bearing any logo 

9 of such network. 

10 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—For purposes of this sub11 section, the Board may prescribe regulations and 

12 issue orders requiring any electronic payment system 

13 network, and any agent, processor, or licensed mem14 ber of any such network, to submit any information, 

15 including rules, agreements, and contracts, that the 

16 Board determines to be necessary or appropriate for 

17 the Board to meet the requirements of paragraph 

18 (1). 

19 ‘‘SEC. 195. ENFORCEMENT. 

20 ‘‘Subsections (a), (b), and (h) of section 130 shall be 

21 applied for purposes of this chapter by substituting the 

22 term ‘an electronic payment system network, or any agent, 

23 processor, or licensed member of any such network’ for 

24 ‘creditor’ each place such term appears in such sub25 sections.’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) Section 127(a) of the Truth in Lending Act 

3 (U.S.C. 1637(a)) is amended by inserting after 

4 paragraph (8) the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(9) In the case of any account under which a 

6 credit card issued in connection with the account 

7 bears the logo of any electronic payment system net8 work, the amounts of any fees charged by the net9 work, or any agent, processor, or licensed member of 

10 the network, in connection with any aspect of trans11 actions initiated by the consumers using such credit 

12 card, including any interchange, processing, or other 

13 fees.’’. 

14 (2) Section 127(b) of the Truth in Lending Act 

15 (U.S.C. 1637(b)) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(13) In the case of any account under which 

18 a credit card issued in connection with the account 

19 bears the logo of any electronic payment system net20 work, if any fee was charged by the network, or any 

21 agent, processor, or licensed member of the network, 

22 in connection with any aspect of a transaction which 

23 resulted in an extension of credit reported on such 

24 statement, the amount of such fee, including any 

25 interchange, processing, or other fee.’’. 


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1 (3) Section 127(c)(1)(A) of the Truth in Lend2 ing Act (U.S.C. 1637(c)(1)(A)) is amended by add3 ing at the end the following new clause: 

4 ‘‘(v) INTERCHANGE AND OTHER

5 FEES.—In the case of an application or so6 licitation to open an account under which 

7 a credit card issued in connection with the 

8 account would bear the logo of any elec9 tronic payment system network, the 

10 amounts of any fees charged by the net11 work, or any agent, processor, or licensed 

12 member of the network, in connection with 

13 any aspect of any transaction initiated by 

14 the consumer using such credit card, in15 cluding any interchange, processing, or 

16 other fees.’’. 

17 (4) Section 127(c)(4)(A) of the Truth in Lend18 ing Act (U.S.C. 1637(c)(4)(A)) is amended by add19 ing at the end the following new clause: 

20 ‘‘(iv) In the case of an application or 

21 solicitation to open an account under 

22 which a charge card issued in connection 

23 with the account would bear the logo of 

24 any electronic payment system network, 

25 the amounts of any fees charged by the 


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1 network, or any agent, processor, or li2 censed member of the network, in connec3 tion with any aspect of transactions initi4 ated by the consumer using such charge 

5 card, including any interchange, proc6 essing, or other fees.’’. 

7 (5) Section 130(a) of the Truth in Lending Act 

8 (U.S.C. 1640(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘chapter 4 

9 or 5’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 4, 5, or 6’’. 

10 (6) Section 130(b) of the Truth in Lending Act 

11 (U.S.C. 1640(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 6’’ 

12 after ‘‘chapter 5’’. 

13 (7) Section 130(g) of the Truth in Lending Act 

14 (U.S.C. 1640(g)) is amended by striking ‘‘chapter 4 

15 or 5’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 4, 5, or 6’’. 

16 (8) Section 906(c) of the Electronic Fund 

17 Transfer Act (U.S.C. 1693d(c)) is amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

19 after the semicolon at the end; 

20 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe21 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(5) in the case of an account under which an 

25 electronic fund transfer may be initiated by the conVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:34 May 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382

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1 sumer by means of any card or other device issued 

2 by the financial institution which bears the logo of 

3 any electronic payment system network, if any fee 

4 was charged by the network, or any agent, proc5 essor, or licensed member of the network, in connec6 tion with any aspect of a transaction which resulted 

7 in an electronic fund transfer reported on such 

8 statement, the amount of such fee, including any 

9 interchange, processing, or other fee.’’. 

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

11 for the Truth in Lending Act is amended by inserting 

12 after the item relating to chapter 5 the following new item: 

‘‘6. PROHIBITION ON UNFAIR PRACTICES IN ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM

NETWORKS......................................................................................................191’’. 

Æ 


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