ETA Statement on House Financial Services Choke Point Hearing

July 15, 2014 – Today’s House Financial Services Hearing revealed that the Department of Justice and other federal agencies are full steam ahead on Operation Choke Point investigations that target financial institutions instead of fraudulent merchants. ETA members are dedicated to ensuring fraudulent merchants do not gain access to our nation’s payments systems, terminating more than 10,000 fraudulent merchants last year alone, far outpacing the supposed anti-fraud efforts of federal agencies.  And yet federal law enforcement agencies are aggressively targeting payments companies as part of a campaign against certain disfavored merchant categories. Payments companies are a better partner than a target in the fight against fraud, and it is disheartening to see federal law enforcement aiming in the wrong direction.

ETA applauds Chairman McHenry for bringing these important issues to light so the American people can see how federal law enforcement agencies are using Operation Choke Point to target categories of disfavored merchants, and using lawful payments companies as a tool in that effort.  ETA also appreciates the numerous Members of Congress who cited ETA’s Industry Guidelines as evidence that the payments industry takes fraud prevention seriously and should be viewed as a partner, not a target, in the effort against fraud.

For media inquiries, contact Meghan Cieslak at 202-677-7406 or [email protected].

About ETA

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the global trade association representing more than 500 payments and technology companies. ETA members make commerce possible by processing more than $4.5 trillion in purchases in the U.S. and deploying payments innovations to merchants and consumers.