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Sen. Durbin Introduced Interchange Bill |
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U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation to allow merchants to negotiate directly with credit card companies to reduce the interchange fees.
Higher interchange fees for businesses mean higher costs for retailers and consumers,” said Durbin. "American businesses and consumers are getting nickled and dimed by the big banks, who end up making billions from these hidden fees. Interchange fees need to be fairly and transparently negotiated between the merchants and the credit card companies who represent the banks’ interests so working Americans don’t get shortchanged.”
Durbin said in a press release that there is no meaningful competition or negotiation involved in the setting of interchange fees and that retailers are forced to abide by these fees, because credit and debit cards are used for over 40% of all transactions in the United States and most retailers cannot stay in business if they do not accept these cards.
Durbin's bill comes on the heels of interchange legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) which would give limited anti-trust protection to acceptance-cost agreements between the bank card networks and merchants. If the parties couldn’t reach agreement, a three-judge panel appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission would be empowered to impose one of the sides’ final offers as binding for three years. Card networks, however, say the bill establishes federal price controls on interchange.
Read the full release
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