A new bill introduced in the Delaware General Assembly, HB 315, would amend the Delaware Code to prohibit payment card networks from charging interchange fees on tips added to credit card transactions.

The Association, together with Delaware credit unions, has submitted comment letters and will testify at the bill hearing tomorrow in Dover.

While the bill aims to ensure that tips left on credit card transactions fully benefit employees, the Association notes that the proposal would disrupt the complex economics and fraud prevention systems that underpin electronic payments, without clear evidence that it would deliver meaningful gains for workers or consumers in Delaware.

In its written testimony, the Association states: Interchange revenue helps credit unions provide fraud protection, secure transactions, as well as convenient, and low‑cost credit card programs. When similar revenue was reduced under the Durbin Amendment, large retailers saw lower costs, but those savings were rarely passed on to consumers. Excluding tips from interchange fees would shrink the revenue base in the same way, ultimately putting credit union members, one in three Delawareans, at risk of higher costs, reduced access to affordable credit and weaker fraud protections.

Testimony will be presented before the House Economic Development, Banking, Insurance & Commerce Committee on Tuesday.