9/29/22

by Fran Bishop, NPA Government Relations Liaison

Numerous reactions are being expressed against credit card companies adopting the newly approved Merchant Category Code of firearms retailers.  

Elected officials around the country are pushing back on the possible use of financial transaction information to surveil or discriminate against firearms owners and merchants. 

A coalition of 24 State Attorneys General sent a letter to the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard and American Express stating that “…creating and tracking this data…using that information to take further, harmful action—like infringing upon consumer privacy, inhibiting constitutionally protected purchases by selectively restricting the use of your payment systems, or otherwise withholding your financial services from targeted “disfavored” merchants.”   

Additionally, all Republican members of the U. S. Senate Banking Committee sent a letter  to the President & CEO of the Bank Policy Institute expressing their concerns, based on past actions by large U.S. banks, Apple Pay, PayPal and more to ban all transactions involving firearms or ammunition from their services. “Banks should not misuse their power to hinder the ability of law-abiding Americans to exercise a constitutional right by creating de-facto bans on legal firearms purchases.” 

To repeat my question from 2 weeks ago…Will this turn into another excuse for pawnbrokers to lose their banking and credit card processing relationships?