Illinois
Illinois law could change credit card transactions at restaurants and stores
CHICAGO (WGN) — Charging your credit card at a restaurant or grocery store could change this summer if one swipe won’t cover the tax or tip.
It’s the first law of its kind in the country. While some feel it will save businesses money, banks aren’t happy about the change.
“In the restaurant business, we operate on very thin margins. Every decision matters. Even small disruptions can have a huge impact on our bottom line,” said Tremaine Branch, a Peoria restaurant owner concerned about the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which becomes law in Illinois on July 1.
As it stands now, when you swipe your credit or debit card for a purchase, the retailer’s bank pays an “interchange fee” to the consumer’s bank, typically around 2-3%. The Interchange Fee Prohibition Act would eliminate those fees on the tip and tax portions of the transaction.
The legislation was proposed to address concerns that businesses incur costs on money that isn’t part of their revenue for goods and services. After the bill passed, a group of financial institutions filed a lawsuit in 2024, and in March, a federal judge upheld the law.
Sam Toia, with the Illinois Restaurant Association, believes the legislation could benefit business owners.
“I have every faith banks can flip the software, we’re in 2026, to figure this out,” he said. “We’re out here fighting for our small independent restaurants throughout the state of Illinois that will save no swipe fees to our independent restaurants on taxes and tips. That will save them quite a bit of money.”
Businesses that don’t comply would face a $1,000-per-transaction penalty, however.
“There’s no workable technology in place right now that can actually do what this law requires,” said Ben Jackson, an executive vice president of government relations at Illinois Bankers Association. “It’s completely unknown whether Illinois businesses with that July 1 implementation date could put this law into practice.”
Businesses should check with their payment processor to update software and learn how to adjust their systems before July 1.
BEECHER CITY, Ill. (WAND) – Farms were damaged in Effingham County Wednesday evening when a powerful storm swept through at around 8 p.m.
The McKay Farm in Beecher City was heavily damaged when the rapidly moving storm hit.
“Two buildings were totally destroyed,” Dan McKay told WAND News on Thursday. “We’ve got five grain bins and they’re all damaged.”
The buildings collapsed onto farm equipment and a semi that were parked in the structures. A utility pole was snapped and ripped out of the ground.
In nearby Shumway, another farm was hit. A barn collapsed, with a grain bin being ripped apart and debris traveling several hundred feet through a nearby corn field. A house on the property was also damaged.
There were no injuries on either farm.
“It was a really wicked storm,” McKay stated.
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PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Multiple rounds of severe storms impacted central Illinois on Wednesday bringing damaging wind gusts and very heavy rain. Our area was sparred from the worst of the tornadoes, but areas south of I-72 were not so fortunate with damage to homes and injuries reported.
An outflow boundary from our morning storms struggled to get any further north than highway 136, which was about 30 miles south of what was anticipated early this morning. This kept the risk of strong tornadoes just south of our local region, though we still had plenty of rain and instances of large hail and gusty winds roll through central Illinois.
The worst of the wind came with the storms in the morning. As the severe storms moved through the area they produced measured gust of 60-70 mph with localized gusts estimated to be around 80 mph. The winds resulted in tree, powerline, and structural damage from Knox through McLean County.
Storm Reports
Galesburg – Tree and power line damage
Williamsfield – Roof partially torn off building
Princeville – Tree damage
Dunlap – 60 mph wind gust
Bellevue – 60 mph wind gust
Germantown Hills – Trees down
Roanoke – 60 mph wind gust
El Paso – Power poles snapped
El Paso – Multiple semis and campers rolled on I-39
Gidley – 70 mph wind gust
Chenoa – Semi rolled on I-55
Dunlap – 1.0″ size hail
Metamora – 1.0″ size hail
Armington – 1.0″ size hail
Rain reports
West Peoria – 4.37″
Lexington – 4.00″
West Peoria – 3.98″
Washington – 3.97″
East Peoria – 3.47″
Dunlap – 3.40″
Goodfield – 2.47″
Towanda – 2.43″
Peoria (PIA) – 2.24″
Lewistown – 2.20″
Galesburg – 1.84″
Chillicothe – 1.52″
Pontiac – 1.27″
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