By Brett Wyss

Having spent more than two decades in community banking, including guiding a local institution through the Great Recession, I’ve seen firsthand how fragile financial confidence can be and how essential community trust is to a healthy economy.

Stable, secure financial systems matter to families and business owners alike. In Colorado, small businesses are not just part of the economy, they are its backbone. They employ nearly half of the state’s workforce and keep wealth circulating in local communities.

Last year, lawmakers considered legislation (HB25-1282) that would have changed how credit and debit cards are processed in our state. So-called “swipe fee reform” aims to reduce interchange fees, which are the fees businesses pay to card-issuing banks whenever a customer uses a card. In short, revenue from interchange fees helps make electronic payments both convenient and trustworthy: it funds consumer services such as fraud monitoring, cybersecurity, dispute resolution and the infrastructure that allows transactions to clear instantly and securely. Interchange fees support free and low-cost checking accounts, debit cards and credit access that millions of Americans rely on.

These protections are largely invisible to consumers. People tap or swipe without worrying whether their payment will go through, whether their data will be stolen, or whether fraudulent charges will be reimbursed. This peace of mind encourages spending and keeps our modern economy moving. Interchange fees are the cost for that security.

When interchange fees are reduced by law, such as what was proposed in Colorado last year with HB25-1282, who carries the risk? Another question to ask is: who is really behind these reform efforts, and why?

Proponents of these bills often portray swipe fee reform such as HB25-1282 as grassroots campaigns driven by neighborhood restaurants and small businesses looking to cut costs. In reality, though, nearly identical bills have surfaced in no fewer than 31 states, backed repeatedly by some of the largest retailers in the country.

Lobbying disclosures in states that require transparency (including in Colorado) show companies such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot lobbying for these measures, alongside national trade groups representing major chains.

That’s because big-box retailers process the highest transaction volumes and therefore would receive the greatest savings from such policy changes. But there is no requirement those savings be passed on to consumers. Research on similar policies in the recent past shows they typically never see it. In fact, many true small businesses gain little from these proposals. Small businesses rely heavily on fraud protection and reliable payment processing, and lack the negotiating power and transaction volume of their big-box competitors. Weakening the system that supports those services risks harming the very businesses these bills claim to help.

Colorado’s proposal was rejected last year, and for good reason. I write today because I am concerned these efforts (and lobbyists) will try it again.

As the leader of an employee-owned community bank that’s deeply rooted in southern Colorado, I see our role as far more than processing transactions. We finance startups, sponsor local nonprofits, advise families and stand beside customers during both prosperity and hardship. Our success is tied directly to the success of the communities we serve. Policies that weaken community banking ultimately weaken local economies.

When nearly identical bills appear across dozens of states, backed by the same national interests and big-box retailers, lawmakers need to ask tough questions about who benefits and who carries the risk.

Local businesses and consumers are best served by policies that strengthen trust, security and access, not by measures that shift billions of dollars to the largest retailers while putting the stability of our payment system at risk. Colorado leaders were right to reject HB25-1282 last year. If similar proposals resurface, they deserve the same scrutiny.

Brett Wyss is president and chief executive of Integrity Bank & Trust, an employee-owned community bank in Colorado Springs, and serves as chair of the Colorado Bankers Association.