One bill still alive at the Nevada Legislature that could have a far-reaching impact on Nevadans with credit cards is AB 500.

It would streamline and weed out some of the back-end charges on credit-card purchases, saving money for consumers and small businesses.

The bill, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Steven Yeager, D-Las Vegas, is expected to get more attention as the session winds down.

It would create a Nevada Payments Bank, which would process credit card transactions while eliminating some fees currently associated with credit cards.

The Nevada Payments Bank also would become the first of its kind in the nation, Yeager said recently on Nevada Newsmakers.

“So this bill would allow us to charter a bank here in Nevada,” Yeager told host Sam Shad. “It would not be like a traditional bank. You couldn’t go in and get a loan. It’s not going to be open to the public.

“But they would have access to that back-end federal infrastructure to run credit card transactions,” Yeager continued. “So instead of having five or seven different entities (charging fees) in the background, we think we could cut it to two or three entities. And because of that, I believe the cost will be less.”

Small businesses could charge less for their products because some of the processing fees associated with credit cards would be eliminated, Yeager said.

“So if you’re selling a bottle of water and someone is using a credit card and it’s 99 cents, they’re losing money on that transaction,” Yeager said about the plight of merchants. “But you have to accept credit cards. People generally don’t carry cash and don’t want to spend it.”

Rising credit-card fees are the reason why many merchants and some public utilities now warn consumers that they will charge extra for credit card transactions.

Consumers would also save money on purchases with the elimination of some credit card fees, Yeager said. And while both businesses and consumers would benefit, a small fee would be collected by the state on each credit-card transaction of the Nevada Payments Bank. A 0.0025 percent fee for each transaction would go to the state’s Commissioner of Financial Institutions, according the Nevada Independent.

“It has a potential to really, really bring down prices,” Yeager said. “And one of my favorite parts of the bill is, you know, the state of Nevada will actually collect a little bit of that fee.

“The fees will be less, but the state will collect a little bit of that fee,” he said. “So it’s going to help the General Fund without increasing taxes on anybody.”

However, the road to turning the bill into law — with time running out in the legislative session — will be no cakewalk, Yeager said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” he said. “It’s got a long ways to go. … we have to figure out the money part, the regulatory part because you need safeguards in there as well.

“But you know, this idea is one that I think this is long past due, given the frustration about the mounting fees, because those are only going to increase as we go along.”

AB500 has passed its first committee and was awarded “exempt status” so it is not beholden to any legislative deadline.

“So that bill got out of the policy committee (Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor),” Yeager said. “It is sitting in the money committee (Ways and Means) because there are some fiscal notes on it, meaning it requires some money to implement it. But I think it’s well worth the investment. It’s just that it’s never been done before.

Payment banks would have other benefits for Nevada, Yeager said.

“This is a way to bring this industry to Nevada,” he said. “It would not be limited to just transactions that happen here in Nevada. You could be a New York merchant and decide you want to actually use the Nevada Payment Bank instead of your typical credit card processor.

“If we do this right, I mean, this state really could be a hub,” Yeager continued. “You could see a lot of these sorts of payment banks being chartered here in Nevada, because they’re not limited to Nevada. They’re not limited to the United States. I mean, you could be a merchant in Europe and say, ‘I want to use the payment bank in Nevada because it’s cheaper.’“

The potential for Nevada to be an international leader in payment banking is a big selling point for Yeager.

Yeager stopped for a moment to ponder the multitudinous number of credit-card transactions that occur in Nevada on a daily basis. The state of Nevada would get a small cut on each and every one.

“Just think for a moment of all the credit-card transactions that will happen today on the Las Vegas Strip,” he said. “I mean, everyone uses credit cards, so you start thinking about that amount of volume. It could really be a game changer for the state.”

If passed and signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo, AB500 would not become an overnight success.

“So, it’s going to take some time to get it up,” Yeager said. “You know, it’s never been done before. It’s kind of complicated. And so, you know, we’re working through some of those issues.”

Some lawmakers could be confused about the bill because of its intricate details, Yeager said. Yeager said he has already spoken to the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer and they like the idea.

“So people look at it and they say, what is this exactly?” he said. “And I had to sort of run through it several times myself, but I think it has a lot of potential for the state. I would love for this state to be the worldwide hub of payment processing.”

The Retail Association of Nevada is supporting the bill, while the Nevada Banking Association is opposed, according to testimony during a committee hearing.

“Really, we’re competing with the big banks,” Yeager said. “So think of your Bank of America, your Chase because credit cards are still going to be issued by Visa and Mastercard. That’s sort of proprietary. And so they’ll still have a part to play in that chain.

“But (the bill would be) taking out some of the really large multinational banks that essentially can charge whatever they want for this service,” Yeager said. “So think of it as replacing those players. And I think we can streamline it. We can definitely get the prices down.

“So it should help small businesses, it should help consumers and it should help the state General Fund, all of which are good things,” Yeager said.

So far, the pushback is not strong enough to scuttle AB500.

“The only pushback we’ve gotten is from some of the banks. They say ‘We just want a level playing field,’“ Yeager said. “They want to be able to get into this (Nevada Payment Bank) charter as well and so this would be open to everybody.

“I think I’ve been able to satisfy some of those concerns,” Yeager continued. “The banks didn’t want special consideration given to these (new credit card payment) banks. So they (payment banks) will have to go through the same process, just like any other bank. And there’s no restriction on existing banks saying, ‘We want to charter this new kind of bank in Nevada.’“