Kelly Arnold: Don’t let China process our credit card data | Commentary

It’s no secret that Kansas is lucky enough to be represented by two strong conservatives in the Senate.

Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall have both fought for our conservative values against the Biden Administration and DC Democrats overreach here at home. And they have proven to be steady, reliable leaders on foreign policy issues related to the greatest threat to our country: China.

Unfortunately, some Democrats and progressives in Congress are pursuing policies that could strengthen China’s economic standing and threaten the financial security of hard working Americans.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., is pushing for new regulations on credit cards that could open the door to China gaining access to Americans’ financial transaction data.

Twelve years ago, as part of the disastrous Dodd-Frank banking bill, Durbin successfully included an amendment that mandated price controls and routing restrictions on debit cards.

Those changes required merchants to link with at least two unaffiliated network providers.

One such provider, which now processes debit transactions in the United States, is China UnionPay, the world’s largest card network and one with deep ties to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Expanding those regulations from debit to credit would be a boon for UnionPay and the CCP.

There are well documented concerns related to data security and privacy with Chinese companies that have close ties to the government, including corporate espionage, intellectual property theft, and data privacy violations.

If UnionPay is allowed to process credit transactions, it would put millions of Americans at risk of unwittingly allowing the Chinese government to access their private financial data.

Beyond the national security concerns, a policy of federally-mandated price controls and regulations on credit transactions would seriously harm consumers.

Americans would lose access to credit cards without annual fees, meaning millions would lose access to credit.

Rewards programs that folks use for hotels, flights and more are worth about $50 billion a year to consumers, and those would also be put at risk.

The evidence shows that price controls just don’t work.

Those Dodd-Frank regulations on debit cards failed to lower prices for consumers.

According to a study out of Boston University, low-income consumers lost $160 a year due to a loss of benefits.

It left a million Americans without a checking account when banks were forced to end free checking accounts.

Another study, from the Federal Reserve, found that the availability of free checking accounts declined by 35 percent at banks that were directly targeted by the Durbin Amendment.

This set of policies would be a disaster for Kansans and for the American people.

During economically trying times such as these, the last thing we need is for big government to reduce Americans’ access to credit and put their financial data at risk to Chinese surveillance.

We need continued leadership from Moran and Marshall on this issue to protect consumers and their financial data.

We need the Senate to maintain our American values, and reject bad big government ideas like Senator Durbin’s.

Kelly Arnold is the Sedgwick County Treasurer