In a much anticipated vote, the Senate voted today 54 – 45 not to delay for one year a cap of 12 cents on the fees banks charge retailers each time a consumer’s debit card is swiped. The industry average is 44 cents. Senators who wanted to block the Fed’s plan needed 60 votes to prevail.
This battle has pitted banks against merchants as the Federal Reserve continues to work on the final rules with no update on the timing as of yet. Final rules must be set by July 21. No matter what the final rules are, the loss of debit interchange revenue will force banks to implement new revenue strategies and bank customers will carry the burden in additional fees.
Patricia Hewitt, director of Mercator Advisory Group’s Debit Advisory Service has been following this issue closely and will have a full PaymentsJournal perspective on the impact of today’s vote. PaymentsJournal will continue to report updates to this critical issue and provide readers with need to know information and resources.
Read More about today’s vote:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/08/general-us-debit-card-fees_8506503.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/business/09debit.html
