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For years, your League has fought against bills to eliminate Maine's anti-credit card surcharge law. LD 660, An Act To Allow Credit and Debit Surcharges, introduced last year, was the most recent bill that sought to overturn the prohibition. The bill drew hundreds of calls to action from credit unions urging legislators on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee urging to oppose the bill. In addition, two credit union representatives, Dave Libby, President/CEO of Town and Country FCU, and Mike Foley, SVP of Five County CU, testified before the Committee to oppose the bill.
LD 660 was carried over into the current legislative session after the issue of surcharging made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The issue was ultimately remanded to the lower court, and a majority of the Insurance and Financial Services Committee voted against the proposal with the bill ultimately dying in late March.
The killing of LD 660 was a major victory for the League and for credit unions and their member-owners who would have disadvantaged by credit card surcharging. As part of the Committee's work on LD 660, it asked the Bureau of Financial Institutions to clarify its ruling that it is permissible for a merchant to offer discounts from the regular price to consumers who use payments other than credit or debit cards.
In its March 28th letter, the Bureau affirmed that although credit card surcharges are illegal, a retailer can post both a 'regular' price and the discounted cash price. The Bureau further clarified that if a merchant opts to disclose both prices, then the regular price must be as prominent or more prominent than the discounted cash price, which must be labeled as a 'cash' or 'cash discount' price.
Your League would like to issue a special thanks to Dave Libby, Mike Foley, and all the credit union advocates who reached out to their legislator on this issue. We could not be successful in Augusta without you!