According to this article from Forbes.com, American Express received a lift in debit fee income in the fourth quarter of 2011 more likely due to their aggressive moves into the prepaid card business and CitiBank also experienced a muted impact. With a combination of less retail banking exposure, focus on affluent segments, and prominent credit card business, Citi should continue to come out ahead on Regulation II.
A final comment in the article speaks to some banks’ strategy to keep under the $10B regulatory threshold which is another unintended consequent of Durbin, fewer big bank mergers.
Another interesting impact from the controversial rule: some banks are avoiding the impact of Durbin by keeping assets under the $10 billion mark. Says SNL “By staying under $10 billion until after the new year, Houston-based Prosperity Bancshares Inc. will not have to forego $5 million in lost debit interchange revenue, according to David Zalman, Prosperity’s chairman and CEO, who was speaking during the company’s 2011 earnings conference call.”
Click here to read more from Forbes.com.
