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The most important federal case in credit card interest rate deregulation was decided in 1978. Marquette National Bank v. First of Omaha Service Corporation involved Minnesota-based Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis and First National Bank of Omaha, headquartered in Nebraska.

Minnesota usury law capped the state’s interest rates on loans at 12 percent. Under Nebraska usury law, banks could charge up to 18 percent. Minnesota banks imposed annual fees to make up the difference. First of Omaha then offered credit cards with no annual fees to Minnesota residents, for which Marquette sued in violation of Minnesota usury law.

In an opinion written by Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., the Supreme Court ruled that nationally chartered banks could charge the legal interest rates in their home states and “export” those rates to out-of-state customers. The Court’s interpretation of the National Bank Act held that state usury laws did not apply to nationally chartered banks.

The Marquette ruling paved the way for the 1980 Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, or DIDMCA. Section 521 of DIDMCA granted state-chartered banks the same right as nationally chartered banks to “export” their interest rates.