WASHINGTON — CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica said Thursday that capping interchange fees would make “convenient credit more expensive for consumers and in some cases less available.”

Mica issued his statement at the same time that the House Judiciary Committee's Anti-Trust Task Force was considering a bill that would require major card brands to negotiate with merchants to reach an interchange settlement. If they can't reach an agreement, they'd have to submit to binding arbitration by a three-judge panel appointed by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission.

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) is sponsoring the Credit Card Fair Fee Act (H.R. 5546). The measure has 31 co-sponsors.

Mica also said consumers will pay higher prices because credit will cost more and merchants won't pass along any savings they get from lower fees to their customers.