On June 15, Jason Stverak, Chief Advocacy Officer at the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), will stand before Massachusetts lawmakers to explain exactly why proposed changes to interchange fees could hurt the people they’re meant to help.
The venue? Room A1 of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The occasion? The fourth hearing of the “Special Legislative Commission to Study the Future of Payments and Sales Transactions by Credit Card and the Impacts for Small Businesses.” Yes, that’s a mouthful—but the implications are actually pretty straightforward.
Stverak’s testimony will tackle the mounting pressures credit unions face around interchange policy. For the uninitiated, interchange fees are those small percentages that merchants pay when you swipe your card—and they help fund everything from fraud protection to the free checking account you probably take for granted.
What’s at Stake Here
“As policymakers continue to consider changes that could impact the payments ecosystem, it is important that credit unions have a strong voice in these discussions and that decision-makers understand the real-world consequences for consumers, including military families, veterans, and communities served by credit unions nationwide,” Stverak explains.
Translation: when legislators tinker with interchange rules without understanding the ripple effects, it’s everyday members—including military families and veterans—who feel the impact first.
If you want to tune in, the hearing will be streamed live at malegislature.gov. Public participation is welcome, so if you’ve got opinions about how your credit union operates, this is your chance to weigh in.
The Bigger Picture
This testimony isn’t a one-off event. It’s part of DCUC’s larger campaign to help lawmakers understand that squeezing interchange revenue doesn’t just affect some abstract corporate bottom line. It hits resources that fund cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and financial inclusion programs—the stuff that makes credit unions different from big banks in the first place.
Anthony Hernandez, DCUC President and CEO (and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel), puts it bluntly: “Credit unions are operating under intensifying regulatory, operational, and competitive pressures that directly threaten their ability to deliver affordable, trusted financial services.”
He continues: “It is imperative that our movement ensure lawmakers both at federal and state levels fully understand the real-world consequences of these policy decisions. Absent that, we risk policies that will unmistakably weaken credit unions’ ability to provide the very services, stability, and support that millions of Americans rely on through the cooperative financial model.”
Why This Matters Beyond Massachusetts
While this particular hearing is happening in Boston, the conversation has national implications. As state and federal policymakers examine the payments system through various lenses—competition, innovation, consumer protection—DCUC is making sure credit unions aren’t left out of the conversation.
The goal? Advocate for policies that actually support innovation and financial security while preserving the member-first model that makes credit unions, well, credit unions. Because at the end of the day, policy decisions made in hearing rooms have a way of showing up in your wallet.
Related:
Roundtable: Credit Unions Face Shifting DC Advocacy Landscape
Everything Credit Unions Going On in Washington with DCUC’s Stverak