Illinois Interchange Ruling

Posted by Jennifer Wagner on February 11, 2026

Yesterday, a U.S. Circuit Court issued its ruling related to Illinois’ interchange law prohibiting the collection of interchange on sales tax and tips.

What happened
While a federal judge initially approved an injunction to Illinois’ law that protected nationally chartered and out-of-state banks, Tuesday’s final ruling largely upheld the law as originally passed by the Legislature and stated that it will apply to all card issuers on transactions in Illinois. While appeals are expected, the law is currently scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026.

What this means beyond Illinois
This decision does not change anything at the federal level. However, GoWest is watching it at the state level, particularly where similar concepts have been introduced or discussed in recent years.

Within GoWest’s six states:

• Arizona, Idaho and Washington have all seen similar interchange-related bills or concepts introduced in recent years, but those efforts have lost traction.
• Given Colorado’s anticipated interchange legislation, this decision is likely to have an impact in Colorado and will embolden supporters to advance a state-level bill. Your GoWest team has remained committed to staying at the table and has been actively working with the Colorado bill sponsor both prior to the legislative session and as now that the session is underway to ensure if a bill does advance it does not negatively impact credit unions.

What does not change

• This ruling does not alter our federal-level strategy or posture.
• There is no immediate indication this ruling creates additional meaningful momentum in Washington, D.C.

This is an issue to stay aware of, but it does not change our overall strategy. We are engaged, we are negotiating, and we are on it.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move.