The Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) has asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to block any commissary interchange amendment from the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including a study or report meant to pave the way for limits on payment-card interchange or routing.
What DCUC is asking for
In a letter to the Senate leaders, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak says the language should stay out of floor amendment packages, any manager’s amendment, negotiations, and the final defense bill. The Council also objects to using the NDAA as a vehicle for the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) or related Durbin-Marshall routing mandates.
Stverak didn’t mince words. “Military families should never be used to sell a payments policy that could leave them with higher costs and fewer financial options,” he said. “Putting the word ‘commissary’ in an amendment does not establish a benefit for the people who shop there. Senate leaders should reject this provision and demand evidence that any proposed change will actually strengthen military families’ financial security.”
Why a “mere study” still worries them
The letter concedes that a study wouldn’t, on its own, impose the CCCA’s routing requirements. The worry is what comes next. A study framed around cutting interchange could become the groundwork for broader mandates, without fully weighing fraud prevention, cybersecurity, credit access, and the perks cardholders receive.
Anthony Hernandez, DCUC President and CEO, tied the issue to the people credit unions serve. “Defense credit unions help families manage the financial demands of deployments, military moves, and unexpected emergencies,” he said. “Congress should protect the institutions and payment services those families count on. We strongly oppose using the NDAA to advance an interchange agenda that puts those services at risk without a demonstrated benefit to servicemembers and veterans.”
The money question
Interchange, in plain English, is the fee that helps cover the cost of issuing payment cards, watching for fraud, and keeping service reliable. DCUC argues that if revenue shrinks while those obligations stay put, something gives: member fees, card benefits, or credit availability. Smaller institutions could feel the ripple from changes across payment networks, even if a mandate doesn’t directly cover them.
The letter also urges lawmakers to separate lower processing costs for retailers from proven savings for consumers, since the two aren’t the same thing. It asks Congress to protect military patrons’ financial privacy and to handle any concerns about commissary charges through targeted policy and funding decisions.
A long paper trail
This request builds on several earlier efforts:
- DCUC’s June 29, 2026 FY2027 NDAA letter, which explicitly opposed commissary and exchange card-fee studies and related routing provisions
- Hernandez’s July 15, 2024 Senate letter
- The August 19, 2025 coalition letter opposing the CCCA and a commissary study
- Stverak’s September 1, 2025 letter to the Armed Services committees
- DCUC’s September 2, 2025 statement warning of risks to military families and the institutions serving them
“Our opposition has been clear across multiple defense authorization cycles,” Stverak said. “A study that becomes the launching point for harmful payment mandates deserves the same scrutiny as the mandates themselves. We are asking both Senate leaders to keep this language out of the final bill.”
What DCUC does want
The Council says it backs bipartisan financial-readiness reforms developed with the relevant congressional committees. Those include measures on credit union liquidity, loan-maturity authority, and veteran business lending. Its September 8, 2026 letter lays out that approach for the FY2027 NDAA.
For DCUC, the line is simple: help military families with evidence-backed policy, not with a study that points toward a mandate.