Iowa AG Leads 13-State Coalition Urging Credit Card Firms to Block Illegal Vape Payments
Summary
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced she is leading a coalition of 13 attorneys general in sending a letter to major credit card companies—Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover—urging them to identify and remove merchants selling illegal vape products from their payment networks. The letter cites that illegal vapes, predominantly manufactured in China, account for over $11 billion in annual U.S. retail sales and more than 80% of all vape sales nationwide. The coalition invokes precedent from 2005, when state AGs and ATF successfully worked with payment card networks to stop illegal internet cigarette sales, and requests that the credit card companies publicize steps they have taken to address this issue.
What changed
The Iowa Attorney General announced a coalition letter to major credit card networks requesting they block payments to merchants selling illegal vape products. The letter identifies illegal vapes, primarily from China, as generating over $11 billion in annual U.S. retail sales and comprising more than 80% of the domestic vape market. The AGs request that payment processors identify and remove illicit vape merchants and disclose steps taken to address the problem.
For financial institutions and payment processors, this represents an increased regulatory and reputational pressure to monitor and restrict merchant accounts associated with illegal vape sales. While the letter is non-binding, it signals that state attorneys general are actively monitoring the payment processing industry's response to illegal vaping transactions and may pursue further enforcement if voluntary cooperation is not forthcoming.
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Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Home | News Releases | Attorney General Brenna Bird Urges Payment Processors to Stop Transactions of Illegal Vapes Hurting Iowa Children
April 15, 2026
Attorney General Brenna Bird Urges Payment Processors to Stop Transactions of Illegal Vapes Hurting Iowa Children
DES MOINES —Attorney General Brenna Bird announced today she is leading a coalition of 13 attorneys general in a letter to credit card companies urging them to stop sales of illegal vape products facilitated through their payment card networks.
Illegal vapes, overwhelmingly manufactured in China, now account for almost all of the U.S. vape market, generating over $11 billion in annual retail sales and making up more than 80% of all vape sales nationwide. The only way those illegal products can be distributed are through financial institutions and payment processors. In short, thousands of unauthorized e-cigs and vapes continue to use these platforms to facilitate illegal transactions of illegal products. Distributing and selling these products violates many federal and state laws.
“We know that China continues to illegally market candy-flavored vapes, with flavors like cotton candy and blue raspberry, to American kids while they are actually banned in China,” said Attorney General Bird. “These Chinese vapes – and selling them - are illegal. Credit card companies need to work with us to stop the flow of these illegal vapes that are hurting our kids.”
The attorneys general are asking Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover to stop the flow of these illegal and unsafe products. There is a strong precedent for public-private cooperation in this area. In 2005, state attorneys general and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives successfully worked with payment card networks to stop the illegal sale of cigarettes over the internet.
The states urge the credit card companies to identify and remove merchants that sell illicit vapes from their networks and to publicize what steps they have taken so far to combat this problem.
The Iowa-led letter is joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.
Read the full letter here.
For More Information:
Contact: Jen Green | jen.green@ag.iowa.gov
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