China is targeting Americans’ data across a myriad of platforms and your credit card might be its next target. Over the past few decades, Chinese entities have executed a slow strategy of partnership with big American financial firms. China is always strategic and here they have two aims: Beijing wants to replace the United States as the world’s leading financial giant and they want as much access as possible to Americans’ sensitive financial data.
A new bill in Congress, the Credit Card Competition Act, claims to address this issue by ostensibly taking a tough stance on China. The legislation aims to ban Chinese companies, specifically targeting Shanghai giant UnionPay, a major Chinese payment network. On the surface, it reads like a strong measure to protect American consumers from Chinese surveillance and influence. But the devil is always in the details. If you squint at the fine print, the bill would actually empower UnionPay at a real cost to American companies.
The Credit Card Competition Act is clever in its approach. It blocks UnionPay from U.S. markets but turbocharges two major UnionPay partners: FiServ and Discover. Empowering those entities empowers the network on which UnionPay is built. In the end, UnionPay wins.
The bill has nasty broader implications. It threatens to disrupt the credit card market in unpredictable ways. By reshuffling a fragile market and inadvertently empowering UnionPay’s network, the bill could make it easier for China to access and exploit American financial data. This not only undermines the stated goal of the legislation but also exposes American consumers to greater risks of financial surveillance and manipulation by a foreign power.
Also troubling to Congressional conservatives is that one of the bill’s top corporate sponsors is Target, a retail giant that has faced boycotts from the right for progressive, or “woke,” corporate policies. Target drew ire from family and faith groups for featuring clothes from a British company that designs satanic and occult themed clothing. Opposing woke companies like Target is not a tertiary issue for Republican lawmakers, but a core one. Helping them should be a nonstarter for all local, state, and national GOP officials.
Congress has a far more effective solution before it. A straightforward ban on UnionPay’s operations in the United States comes without all the culture war and privacy baggage. A simple up or down vote on UnionPay’s presence in the U.S. could earn the same level of support as the recent bill to ban Huawei. It would further help block Chinese access to American financial data through intermediary partnerships. Most importantly, a clean ban would end the UnionPay threat without completely upending the credit card market or putting Americans’ financial data at risk.
A simple ban on UnionPay would send a clear message to China: Americans will not tolerate attempts to infiltrate its financial systems and compromise the data security of its citizens. A straightforward approach, to safeguard against Chinese influence and data breaches, is more than warranted. Just like its laudatory action on TikTok and Huawei, Congress should ditch all the messy meddling and go straight for the jugular.
Jeremy Hunt, a West Point graduate, served as a U.S. Army intelligence captain. He’s now an attorney and political commentator, frequently offering his national security insights on Fox News and other broadcast media.