Convenience Store News highlighted that Regulation II also known as the Durbin Amendment is up for review by the Fed as required by the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act. The Durbin amendment is the regulation that capped debit card interchange for banks with over 10 Billion in assets and established the rules requiring the availability of routing choice on all debit cards.
Not surprising, NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing has express their interest in seeing debit interchange reduced further:
“While debit fees should have been reduced even further than they have been to date,” NACS did acknowledge that Reg. II has ultimately been a “net positive” for its constituents since going into effect in 2011.
“By lowering retailers’ costs of accepting debit transactions, small businesses have been able to pass on savings to consumers in the form of lower prices,” the association wrote in its letter.
Their full comments can be read here
Also not surprising is that the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) is not in agreement with NACS’ stance. EPC is lobbying the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, to consider that the $36 Billion in reduced interchange fees that merchants experienced never found their way back to consumer’s pockets, a major tenet of the Durbin amendment.
EPC’s comments to the Fed can be found here
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
Read the full story here
