“A bipartisan group of senators is seeking a hurry-up vote on an amendment that would delay the fee changes for two years, an effort that has frustrated Durbin. His amendment won 64 votes last year. “We knew at the time it was controversial, but I didn’t anticipate the political response we’ve received this year. I’ve never seen such an all out effort by credit card companies …” Durbin said this afternoon. “You would think there was a billion dollars a month at stake on this issue,” Durbin continued. “And you would be right. In fact, it’s $1.3 billion.” He was referring to the total of monthly costs retailers pay for fees just on debit cards.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Board –through Chairman Bernanke– is appearing to signal that they are prepared to put more teeth in to their rules with regards to making sure that smaller financial institutions are protected. His recent statements also seem to indicate that the FRB is anticipating issuing their rules on April 21st.
Read entire article here: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/3d1ec91e-5661-11e0-88f1-00127992bc8b.html
