State Association Letter to the OCC on National Bank Non-Interest Charges and Fees and the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act

To Whom It May Concern:

The American Bankers Association (ABA) and the undersigned 52 state and territorial bank associations (collectively, the Associations) appreciate the opportunity to comment on and strongly support the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) recently published interim final rule (IFR) clarifying national banks’ power to charge non-interest charges and fees, including credit and debit card interchange fees set by or in consultation with third parties and the OCC’s interim final order (IFO) clarifying the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) is preempted as to national banks. The IFR and IFO not only timely provide much needed regulatory certainty to national banks and their customers but – thanks to state wild card and federal parity principles – may also provide regulatory clarity to Illinois-chartered banks, out-of-state banks, other financial institutions, and their customers.

For more than half a century, American consumers and American businesses have relied on debit and credit cards issued by our members and the payment card networks on which they operate to pay and be paid quickly and securely. And, as the ABA, Illinois Bankers Association (IBA), and their co-plaintiffs in Illinois Bankers Ass'n v. Raoul, 819 F. Supp. 3d 882 (N.D. Ill. 2026), No. 26-1354, 2026 WL 1291987 (7th Cir. May 8, 2026) (IFPA litigation) explain in simultaneously submitted comments, the National Bank Act already gave national banks ample authority to collect and receive a broad spectrum of non-interest charges and fees, including interchange fees ultimately spent to further modernize and secure payment card networks.

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