Nine merchant trade associations sued the OCC and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) on November 12, 2026 over their preemption of the Illinois interchange fee law, which bans card swipe fees on sales tax and tips, filing in federal court in Washington, D.C. The National Retail Federation and the National Grocers Association are among the plaintiffs, and the groups argue that the OCC skipped the notice-and-comment procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Bank Act.
Why it matters: The OCC preemption in April 2026 and the NCUA rule of June 30 led US District Judge Virginia Kendall to block parts of the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, and appeals by Illinois and the bank associations are set for argument in late January. The law is due to take effect on July 1, 2027, and the merchants’ lawsuit cites Illinois Fuel & Retail Association data showing that Illinois merchants pay at least $242 million a year in interchange on taxes and tips.
Source: Payments Dive, November 12, 2026
Related: Appeals court upholds ruling that vacated the Fed’s debit fee cap · Week ending November 1: card fees go to court
Image: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
