Credit sales; prohibiting charge of network fees and interchange fees on certain transactions. Effective date.
Summary
SB1095 creates a new section of Oklahoma law governing certain credit card sales transactions. It defines “interchange transaction fee” and “network fee” by reference to federal law and then prohibits merchants from being charged those fees on the portion of a credit card transaction that pays sales tax, excise tax, customer tips, or a donation to a qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
In practical terms, the bill would require payment networks and card processors to exclude those specified amounts from fee calculations, so merchants would not pay interchange or network fees on tax, tip, or charitable-donation portions of a transaction. The bill is set to take effect November 1, 2025, and would be codified in Title 14A of the Oklahoma Statutes.
Impact
The bill would add a new consumer-credit and merchant-protection provision to Oklahoma law by limiting when card-related fees may be assessed on certain parts of a transaction. It affects merchants, payment processors, card networks, and potentially card issuers by carving out sales tax, excise tax, tips, and qualifying charitable donations from fee-bearing amounts, while leaving the underlying credit card transaction otherwise intact.
Sentiment
There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history available in the provided materials, so no direct legislative debate or recorded sentiment can be identified. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears designed to reduce merchant costs and protect funds intended for government taxes, gratuities, and charitable giving from being reduced by card-processing fees.
Contention
The main potential points of contention are likely to be the impact on payment networks and processors, which would lose fee revenue on the excluded portions of transactions, and the administrative burden of separating taxable, tip, and donation amounts from the rest of a card charge. Supporters would likely include merchants, restaurants, and nonprofits that benefit from lower processing costs, while opponents may argue the bill interferes with private payment arrangements or could create compliance and implementation challenges.