Nation’s leading banks to launch online payment service

Consumers looking to reduce debt may have turned to using online payment services instead of traditional credit cards, and three of the nation’s leading financial institutions are attempting to capitalize on the sea change in the industry

via Nation’s leading banks to launch online payment service.

Bill targets taxicab industry’s $3 charge for credit card use – Las Vegas Sun

The Nevada Taxicab Authority, which regulates the cab industry in Clark County, would be required to set the credit or debit fee charged based on those figures. The fee would only be allowed to cover costs.

via Bill targets taxicab industry’s $3 charge for credit card use – Monday, May 30, 2011 | 5:03 p.m. – Las Vegas Sun.

Survey: Annual fees kept at bay despite credit card reform law

“The idea that there was going to be huge portion of cards charging annual fees as a result of the CARD act definitely has not materialized,” says Fichera.

via Survey: Annual fees kept at bay despite credit card reform law.

Debit-card fee limit on hold as issue is debated – Toledo Blade

The organization and many other consumer groups support the fee cap. Mr. Mierzwinski, who has worked on the debit and credit card fee issue for six years, said he doesn’t know of anyone who has changed sides. But he believes he understands the banking industry’s strategy. “Delay equals killing reform.”

via Debit-card fee limit on hold as issue is debated – Toledo Blade.

CEO Interview: MasterCard’s Ajay Banga – Yahoo! Finance

Ajay Banga leads a company that is synonymous with plastic, yet he encourages his staff to focus on cash.

via CEO Interview: MasterCard’s Ajay Banga – Yahoo! Finance.

Boston.com – Credit card fees gouge retailers

Despite increases in volume and advancements in technology,

via Boston.com.

The latest in sneaky credit card fees

To nobody’s surprise, credit cards are still imposing fees on their customers.

via The latest in sneaky credit card fees.

PayPal lawsuit alleges Google stole trade secrets | Digital Media – CNET News

PayPal filed a lawsuit against Google today, alleging the Web giant misappropriated trade secrets from its mobile-payment business when it hired away a key executive in PayPal’s mobile payments effort.

via PayPal lawsuit alleges Google stole trade secrets | Digital Media – CNET News.

Tell Your Elected Officials that Delaying Swipe Fee Reform is Unacceptable

source UnfairCreditCardFees.com

 Credit card fees known as swipe fees are hidden in the cost of nearly everything consumers buy. In 2008 alone, American merchants and consumers paid over $48 billion in swipe fees. Even consumers who don’t use plastic pay more through higher prices. Visa issuers collectively set credit card interchange fees in secret and MasterCard issuers separately do the same. The fees can’t be negotiated and are not adequately disclosed to merchants or consumers.

Tell your Members of Congress to stop the price-fixing by the credit card industry and provide an open and transparent process to negotiate swipe fees by supporting swipe fee reforms in their current form.

————————

RE: Vote NO on S. 575 and H.R. 1081

I am writing to you today to urge you to vote NO on any type of delay of the debit card swipe fee reform. 

Congress should make it easier, not harder, to offer consumer discounts; delaying swipe fee reform will make discounting nearly impossible.   And discounting is all the more important as gasoline tops $4 a gallon.  

The same big banks that were bailed out a few years back are asking Congress to turn its back on American business owners and consumers, so that the credit card companies and their banking allies can keep on gouging Main Street Americans with their price-fixing swipe fee scheme.

Swipe fee reform was designed to bring fairness and transparency to the shrouded swipe fee payments system. The law says that the big banks have a choice: they can open the fees to competition and charge whatever price the market permits or they can continue to fix their fees, but those price-fixed fees must be “reasonable and proportional” to their costs.

Congress has held 9 hearings and 1 markup on swipe fees and the GAO has issued 3 reports. I can read the writing between the lines. I know that S. 575 and H.R. 1081 were not written to study the swipe fees that are crippling my business and every consumer in your district; they were written using the big banks’ scare tactics in order to completely derail these reforms.  These aren’t “study” bills…they are “kill” bills.

Americans pay the highest swipe fees in the world.  Merchants and consumers have been waiting for years to see these reforms realized, and every month of delay means another $1 billion that we have to hand over to the big banks and credit card companies.

I can’t tell you strongly enough how important this is to businesses in your district like mine.  Please stand with your constituents, including business owners and consumer, and make sure that swipe fee reforms are allowed to take effect this summer.

Every Day the Banks Take $140 Million Out of the Economy from Debit/Credit Card #SwipeFees

Source: UnfairCreditCardFees.com

#SwipeFees Delay Vote Imminent

Although it is unclear as to which underlying piece of legislation Reid will allow the amendment to be offered, the vote could come any time after June 6 when the Senate returns from recess.

via Swipe Fee Delay Vote Imminent.

Retail fights for #swipefees cap – Chris Frates – POLITICO.com

Retailers and merchants — who supply one in five U.S. jobs and account for about two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity — are pushing lawmakers to oppose legislation sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) that would delay new rules proposed by the Federal Reserve to limit how much banks, credit unions and other financial services companies can charge merchants who accept debit cards.

via Retail fights for swipe fee cap – Chris Frates – POLITICO.com.

Bank of America Settling Suit on Overdrafts – NYTimes.com

Bank of America would pay $410 million to settle its piece of a broad lawsuit involving excessive overdraft fees on debit cards in a deal tentatively approved by a federal judge in Miami on Monday

via Bank of America Settling Suit on Overdrafts – NYTimes.com.

Retailers Launch New Campaign in Support of Debit-Card Swipe Reform

The retailers hope that the campaign will be enough to convince Congress to shoot down an amendment from Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) on delaying the swipe fee regulations. Tester recently said he would shorten the original two-year delay to 15 months in order to have time to study the law’s impact.

via Retailers Launch New Campaign in Support of Debit-Card Swipe Reform.

Retailers push for debit-card fee cuts – NYPOST.com #SwipeFees

Retailers, through their National Retail Federation lobbying group, claim that even 12 cents a transaction is too high. With the lower fee, the cost savings could be passed along to consumers, the retail group argues.

via Retailers push for debit-card fee cuts – NYPOST.com.

USA Today: How lower swipe fees will impact consumer behavior

The Merchants Payments Coalition has dismissed that concern, arguing that it’s bad business to discriminate against customers based on the debit cards they use. The group also contends that MasterCard and Visa network rules require merchants to accept all their debit cards, without regard to the issuer.

via #.

Tester rolls back debit-card delay proposal – The Hill’s On The Money

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that he will schedule a vote for Tester’s proposal, but it remains to be seen what vehicle the plan can be attached to. House lawmakers are also looking at the issue, with a bipartisan proposal there delaying implementation for one year.

via Tester rolls back debit-card delay proposal – The Hill’s On The Money.

Retailers, Banks Take Swipes Over Debit Card Fees – FoxNews.com

The NRF opposes any new legislation to delay the new law, arguing it would be the first step to killing a cap on debit card fees altogether.

via Retailers, Banks Take Swipes Over Debit Card Fees – FoxNews.com.

Debate Over Debit Card Fees

http://www.myfoxdc.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=8705

Debate Over Debit Card Fees: MyFoxDC.com

No end in sight for debate on debit-card fees for retailers » Knoxville News Sentinel

“Last year, debit and credit card fees exceeded payroll as my biggest expense,” explained Bohnen, who operates two service stations in south Minneapolis and serves as president of the Minnesota Service Station & Convenience Store Association. “When you have (those fees) as your top expense, it says something has to be done.”

via No end in sight for debate on debit-card fees for retailers » Knoxville News Sentinel.

Jon Tester Backpedals In Multibillion-Dollar Swipe Fee Fight

This pocket change for a each transaction collectively amounts to billions of dollars every month. According to data from finance industry publication The Nilson Report, debit card swipe fees generate $1.35 billion for banks each month, or $16 billion a year. About $8 billion of that total flows to just 10 big Wall Street firms.

via Jon Tester Backpedals In Multibillion-Dollar Swipe Fee Fight.

Retailers, Banks Take Swipes Over Debit Card Fees – FoxNews.com

It’s a move welcomed by the National Retail Federation, which is and has been lobbying on behalf of the law. David French, the senior vice president of government relations for the NRF, calls the fees a “hidden tax” and argues that debit card swipe fees are “a classic example of a broken market that needs some government intervention to set it right.”

via Retailers, Banks Take Swipes Over Debit Card Fees – FoxNews.com.

Reid Backs Durbin in Swipe Fees Battle

The vote could come as early as next week during Senate debate of the Patriot Act reauthorization, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from some, a “clumsy effort to rewrite banking laws through national security legislation,” according to The Hill.

via Reid Backs Durbin in Swipe Fees Battle.

National Retail Federation Launches Major 60-Day Advocacy Campaign to Preserve Swipe Fee Reform

–Lobbying, Grassroots, Media Blitz to Take on Banks’ Misinformation Campaign–

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2011 – The National Retail Federation today launched a major nationwide 60-day lobbying, grassroots and media campaign aimed at ensuring that a new federal law saving retailers and their customers more than $1 billion a month by lowering “swipe” fees banks charge to process debit card transactions takes effect in late July as scheduled.  A provision in last year’s Wall Street reform bill will reduce the fees by an estimated 70 percent, saving about $14 billion a year that retailers plan to pass along to their customers through discounts or other benefits, but the credit card industry is spending millions to delay the reform.
“Congress concluded last year that swipe fees have been driving up prices for consumers by far too much for far too long,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Now that Congress has done something about these fees, retailers are standing by to pass the savings along to their customers through lower prices and higher value. Our job over the next two months is to ensure that swipe fee reform takes effect as planned, and consumers get to enjoy all the new benefits.”

NRF’s multi-pronged campaign will include:
 
•    An intensive grassroots campaign mobilizing retailers from across the country through NRF’s members, members of its National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR) division, and state retail associations;
•     A June fly-in with hundreds of business owners in Washington to meet with members of Congress and urge that the reforms go through as planned;
•    An aggressive media relations campaign including media briefings and interviews with national and local news outlets, and nationwide placement of op-eds and letters to the editor;
•     A nationwide print and radio advertising campaign including inside-the-beltway print and radio ads and hundreds of thousands of dollars in radio ads in key markets nationwide;
•    Leveraging social media and viral video to educate legislators and the public; and
•    Providing a platform for merchants and consumers to get involved through a new web resource center (www.nrf.com/swipefees).

 “From job creation to strengthening our country’s GDP, the retail industry is playing a significant role in the economic recovery,” said Shay. “This campaign to preserve swipe fee reform represents a major leap forward in expanding retail’s advocacy footprint to match the industry’s broad economic footprint. With the approval of the organization’s new strategic plan, we are committing new resources to ensure that retailers will have their voice heard for every important public policy decision.”

“The banking industry has engaged in a massive multimillion-dollar campaign of misinformation and threats intended to deprive consumers of the savings they are entitled to under reform,” said NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan. “We’ll work aggressively to set the record straight and keep banks from taking this landmark reform away from the Main Street retailers who are the lifeblood of our economy.”

“This campaign is going to show that retailers are willing to stand up for their customers and fight to keep the big Wall Street banks from putting their hands into consumers’ wallets every time a card is swiped to pay for a purchase,” Duncan said. “Most consumers don’t even know these fees exist, but they are costing the average family hundreds of dollars each year and our economy billions of dollars.”

Swipe fees, officially known as interchange fees, are a charge averaging 1-2 percent for debit cards and 2-3 percent for credit cards taken by banks each time a card is used to pay for a purchase. The fees have tripled over the past decade to about $50 billion a year, and drive up prices paid by consumers by an estimated $427 for the average household. Debit cards account for about $20 billion of the total.

Congress has yet to deal with credit card swipe fees. But a provision in last year’s Wall Street reform bill will reduce debit card swipe fees by an estimated 70 percent, saving about $14 billion a year that retailers plan to pass along to their customers through discounts or other benefits. Reform is scheduled to take effect July 21, but the banking industry is pushing legislation that would delay implementation by as long as two years, and has spent tens of millions of dollars on a massive misinformation campaign.

Regulations proposed by the Federal Reserve to implement last year’s swipe fee law would lower debit card swipe fees from their current level of 1 to 2 percent of each transaction to a flat fee of no more than 12 cents per transaction for large banks that adhere to fee schedules set by the card companies. Banks that set their own rates would be free to charge any fee they believe the market would bear provide that they do so independently. Financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets are exempt.

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF’s global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. In the United States, NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2010 sales of $2.4 trillion. http://www.nrf.com

Myth VS Fact

Published on Fight Swipe Fees Now! (http://swipefees.nrf.com)

 

---

 

 

MYTH:
Mid-sized and small banks will be hurt by swipe fee reform.

FACT:
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act specifically exempts financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets from swipe fee reform. Bankers smaller than that will be allowed to continue to charge the current 1-2% of each transaction while only banks above $10 billion would be affected by the Federal Reserve’s proposal to cap debit swipe fees a flat fee of up to 12 cents. Smaller banks will actually be able to charge higher swipe fees than the Wall Street banks once reform takes effect.

MYTH:
Retailers will refuse to accept debit cards from exempted banks because their swipe fees will be higher than those from big banks.

FACT:
Retailers will continue to accept all debit cards from all banks. Visa and MasterCard each have the “Honor All Cards Rule.” The rules say if a retailer accepts any Visa debit card, the retailer must accept all debit cards under the Visa name. The same with MasterCard. If the retailer refuses, the card companies can fine the retailer or yank out the retailer’s card privilege. In addition, there is no automated way for a retailer to know at the cash register what fee is charged by a specific card, and it isn’t practical to keep a list of cards or to train thousands of sales associates on which card to accept. Finally, retailers simply aren’t going to turn away a customer with a shopping cart full of merchandise and risk having him or her walk out empty-handed.

MYTH:
In setting the 12-cent cap, the Fed hasn’t taken into consideration all the costs that go into the debit card “product.”

FACT:
The Dodd-Frank law sets out all of the costs necessary to authorize, collect and settle a debit transaction, and the Fed has taken those costs into account. What has been left out are things the banks want to pay for with swipe fees but which aren’t part of processing the transaction – like the massive junk mail campaigns that clog consumers’ mailboxes with card offers every day.

It should be remembered that a debit card is not a “product” and therefore claims about the need to make a return on investment make no sense. It is merely a way for consumers to access the money in their bank accounts, the same as a paper check or a withdrawal slip. Nobody expects to earn a return on a withdrawal slip or check, so why should consumers have prices driven up when they are withdrawing money via a debit card? Remember that debit cards were introduced to save banks the cost of processing checks or hiring bank tellers to deal with in-person withdrawals.

MYTH:
The Fed’s proposal doesn’t take into the account the cost of fighting debit card fraud.

FACT:
The lion’s share of fraud is paid for by retailers when the banks issue a “chargeback” against a fraudulent purchase and pull the money back out of the merchant’s account. And most debit card fraud comes when debit cards are used in signature transactions rather than with a PIN. Signature transactions are inherently susceptible to fraud because a thief only has to scrawl the card owner’s name on the sales slip. The legitimate signature is even on the back of the card for the thief who cares enough to make a good forgery! But a PIN is a secret number prudent consumers carry in their heads. A lost or stolen debit card without that secret PIN is worthless.

Banks encourage consumers to sign for debit transactions because signature transactions go across the credit card networks and collect the higher end of swipe fees – around 2%– rather than going across ATM networks and collecting the lower end of 1%. They are bringing the extra exposure to fraud upon themselves.

MYTH:
Reform is being pushed through and there isn’t enough time for the Fed to complete and implement the final regulations by July as required under Dodd-Frank.

FACT:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in March that the regulations will be in place for implementation on schedule in July, and reiterated in May that he has all the information he needs, with no need for a delay.

MYTH:
Swipe fee reform was rushed through Congress and added to Dodd-Frank without a hearing.

FACT:
Congress held more than half a dozen hearings on swipe fee reform prior to approving last year’s law, passed at least one swipe fee reform bill out of committee, and argued the issue during floor debate on other financial services reform legislation. NRF, in fact, has testified at multiple swipe fee hearings.

CNBC Video: Credit Card Interchange SwipeFees

http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/3000022599/code/cnbcplayershare/&startTime=401/&endTime=401

Retailers fight back on debit-card swipe fees – The Washington Post

The amount of money at stake for both sides is even greater. According to the Federal Reserve, interchange fees totaled nearly $17 billion in 2009. Under the current system, retailers include those costs in the prices they charge to consumers, amounting to what they called a “hidden tax on shopping.” Any reductions in the fees would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices or better service, the NRF said.

via Retailers fight back on debit-card swipe fees – The Washington Post.

Twitter Cofounder Takes On the Credit Card Biz | Magazine

Right now there are about 8 million merchants in the US that accept credit cards. That doesn’t include people who do transactions over craigslist or dog walkers or people fund-raising for the PTA. There is such untapped demand. Like, we had a couch in the office that was really ugly, and we sold it for $5,000, and we accepted a credit card. There are moments in life when that’s necessary. And that’s what we’re focused on.

via Twitter Cofounder Takes On the Credit Card Biz | Magazine.

Bank fight tests Reid’s allegiances – TheHill.com

As a result of Durbin’s amendment, the Fed decided to limit these so-called swipe fees to 12 cents per transaction, substantially less than the 44 cents banks have charged on average for such transactions.

via Bank fight tests Reid’s allegiances – TheHill.com.

Trade Association Letter to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin Regarding #SwipeFees

 

http://durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=9586ad49-a109-40ae-b312-e1283b42e804

May 10, 2011

The Honorable Richard Durbin
Majority Whip
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

 

Dear Senator Durbin:

 

Our associations represent virtually every part of the retail industry selling motor fuels in

 

the United States. Like many Americans, we are concerned about the price of gasoline today.  Not only are rising prices bad for our customers, but when the price of gasoline rises, retailers make less money. That might not make sense at first glance, but the retail sale of gasoline is extremely price competitive. Retailers put their prices on large signs that motorists can see as they drive. Studies have shown that customers will drive out of their way just to save one or two cents per gallon. As a result, when the wholesale price of gasoline rises, retailers cannot raise prices to consumers fast enough to keep pace.

 

This is one of the many reasons why the swipe fees paid by our industry are so offensive.

 

Swipe fees are fixed centrally by the credit card giants for both debit and credit cards as a fixed fee plus a percentage of the transaction. That means the fee retailers pay to sell gasoline goes up every time the price of gasoline goes up. While gasoline retailers make less money on rising prices, they pay higher and higher fees. That simply is not fair.

 

With gasoline nearing $4 per gallon, debit swipe fees average about 6 cents per gallon –and credit swipe fees are about 8 cents per gallon. Our customers worry about every extra penny they pay for gasoline and 6 to 8 cents extra is far too much money. To put these huge fees in perspective, consider that every penny per gallon change in the retail price of gasoline costs consumers an additional $3.75 million per day or $1.38 billion each year.

 

The surest and swiftest way to reduce gas prices, however, is to let the Durbin amendment and the Federal Reserve’s rule implementing it take effect on time. Doing that will reduce the fees gasoline retailers pay, and the EIA definitively concluded in a 2003 report that gasoline retailers pass through 100 percent of cost reductions in the form of lower gasoline prices. That means lower debit swipe fees will lead to lower gas prices.

 

Senator Tester’s bill (S. 575) would do the opposite. It would stop swipe fee relief for two years and keep pushing up gas prices. That same 2003 EIA study found that cost increases get passed along in the form of higher gas prices. Therefore, a vote for S. 575 is a vote for two years of higher gas prices than anyone should be paying.

 

There are many reasons why reform is needed now to limit the price-fixing by credit card giants and banks on debit swipe fees. While some of those reasons might be subject to debate, it is hard for any of us in the business of gasoline retailing to understand why – given the pricing pressures we and our customers all face today – any Senator would vote for two years of higher gas prices when some relief is only a couple of months away. We urge you in the strongest terms to vote against S. 575, a bill that will keep gas prices too high.

 

Sincerely,

 

NACS – National Association of Convenience Stores

 

NATSO – National Association of Truck Stop Operators

 

PMAA – Petroleum Marketers Association of America

 

SIGMA – Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America

 

P&CMA – Petroleum & Convenience Marketers of Alabama

 

APMA – Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association

 

AOMA – Arkansas Oil Marketers Association, Inc.

 

CIOMA – California Independent Oil Marketers Association

 

CWPMA – Colorado Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association

 

ICPA – Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association

 

FPMA – Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, Inc.

 

GOA – Georgia Oilmen’s Association

 

HPMA – Hawaii Petroleum Marketers Association

 

IPM&CSA – Idaho Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association

 

IPMA/IACS – Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association/Illinois Association of

 

Convenience Stores

 

IPCA – Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, Inc.

 

PMCI – Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores of Iowa

 

PMCA – Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association of Kansas

 

KPMA – Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association

 

LOMACS – Louisiana Oil Marketers and Convenience Store Association

 

MODA – Maine Energy Marketers Association

 

MPAMACS – Michigan Petroleum Association/Michigan Association of Convenience

 

Stores

 

MAPDA – Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors’ Association

 

MPM – Minnesota Petroleum Marketers Association

 

MPMCSA – Mississippi Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores Association

 

MPCA – Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association

 

MPMCSA – Montana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association

 

NCPA – Nebraska Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

 

NPM&CSA – Nevada Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

 

NEFI – New England Fuel Institute

 

IOMANE – Independent Oil Marketers Association of New England

 

FMANJ – Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey

 

NMPMA – New Mexico Petroleum Marketers Association

 

ESPA – Empire State Petroleum Association, Inc. (NY)

 

NCPCM – North Carolina Petroleum & Convenience Marketers

 

NDPMA – North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association

 

OPMCA – Ohio Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

 

OPMCA – Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

 

OPA – Oregon Petroleum Association

 

PPMCSA – Pennsylvania Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

 

SCPMA – South Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association

 

SDPPMA – South Dakota Petroleum and Propane Marketers Association

 

TFCA – Tennessee Fuel & Convenience Store Association

 

TPCA – Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association

 

UPMRA – Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association

 

VFDA – Vermont Fuel Dealers Association

 

VPCGA – Virginia Petroleum, Convenience and Grocery Association

 

WOMA – Washington Oil Marketers Association/Pacific Northwest Oil Heat Council

 

WPMA – Western Petroleum Marketers Association

 

OM

&GA – West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association

WPMCA – Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

 

CWPMA – Wyoming Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association

Business Meets Technology at NACStech

NACS President and CEO Hank Armour opened the general session by describing NACStech as the place “where business and technology meet.” He added, “Technology solves problems and creates new opportunities for your business.”

via Business Meets Technology at NACStech.

Could We See $5 ATM Fees and $50 Limits on Debit Transactions?

Another threat being made is the imposition of a limit on debit card transactions. You might be unable to swipe your debit card on transactions totaling more than $100 – or even $50 – no matter how much money you have in your checking account. CNN Money reports on the reasoning behind imposing debit card transaction limits:

via Could We See $5 ATM Fees and $50 Limits on Debit Transactions?.

Sen. Reid Will Bring Swipe Fee Delay Amendment to Senate

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he would bring the amendment from Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) on delaying the swipe fee regulations to the Senate floor, Reuters reports. Tester’s amendment would push back regulation of debit card fees for two years.

via Sen. Reid Will Bring Swipe Fee Delay Amendment to Senate.

Editorial: Credit card fees need clipping

Even Canada’s Competition Bureau has waded into the debate. It is challenging rules that prevent merchants from encouraging customers to consider lower-cost alternatives and from applying a surcharge to a purchase made with a high-cost card.

via Editorial: Credit card fees need clipping.

Bank Overdraft Fees Still Plague American Consumers – DailyFinance

Seeing a threat to a multibillion-dollar revenue stream, the banks responded with pro-overdraft marketing campaigns that inappropriately targeted their customers, says the Center for Responsible Lending.

via Bank Overdraft Fees Still Plague American Consumers – DailyFinance.

How #SwipeFees Drive Up Costs for Consumers

With the banking industry trying to kill swipe fee reform scheduled to take effect this summer, NRF explains how the fees drive up prices for consumers and why they need to be brought under control. http://www.nrf.com/SwipeFees

NRF Says Bernanke Remarks Show No Need to Delay #SwipeFees Reform

Bernanke”s remarks before the Senate Banking Committee today on regulations aimed at lowering the “swipe” fees banks charge retailers and consumers to process debit card transactions by more than $1 billion a month.

via NRF Says Bernanke Remarks Show No Need to Delay Swipe Fee Reform.

Credit card executives see sunny days ahead

Losses from credit defaults keep falling, an explosion in smartphone payment systems and other technology has raised the prospect of new long-term revenue growth, and executives now believe they can mitigate the effects of the latest regulatory overhaul of the U.S. card industry.

via Credit card executives see sunny days ahead.

Retail’s BIG Blog | The Impact of Swipe Fees on Consumers

With the banking industry trying to kill swipe fee reform scheduled to take effect this summer, NRF has created a new video that explains how the fees drive up prices for consumers and why they need to be brought under control.

via Retail’s BIG Blog | The Impact of Swipe Fees on Consumers.

Swipe fees may strain area businesses | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com

Andrew Myszak did some research and found out his high school store ends up losing as much as 82 cents when it accepts debit cards for items such as a $1 iced tea.

via Swipe fees may strain area businesses | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com.

Small-Business Owners Lobby to Cut Credit Card Fees – NYTimes.com

Mitch Goldstone, who owns ScanMyPhotos.com, a photo-imaging venture in Irvine, Calif., and blogs about interchange fees at http://www.WayTooHigh.com, said he decided to challenge the fees in 2005 after learning that fees on reward cards were going up. “I can barely understand them and I’m a lead plaintiff in the merchant litigation,” he said

via Small-Business Owners Lobby to Cut Credit Card Fees – NYTimes.com.

Taxi Drivers Protest Credit Card Fees

The credit card charges were instituted several months ago. Drivers complained that the fee is excessive and that it cuts into their already modest profits taxi drivers are obligated to accept credit card payments in San Francisco.

via Taxi Drivers Protest Credit Card Fees.

Banks Use Bush Terror Team, Threat Tactics to Push Debit Card Fees

There was another unfortunate coincidence of timing As the Summit was being held last week, the Pew Foundation released a report which slammed the banking industry for taking advantage of debit cards to hit its customers with excessive and deceptive overcharge fees. There have been no panels suggesting that deceptive overdraft fees are also needed to protect us from cyberattacks … at least none yet.

via Richard RJ Eskow: Green Alert: Banks Use Bush Terror Team, Threat Tactics to Push Debit Card Fees.

Retailers Say They Can’t Discriminate Against Debit Cards From Small Institutions

The Merchants Payments Coalition, which represents 20 retail groups, noted that its members have “no contractual or practical ability to treat debit cards issued by small financial institutions differently than those issued by large institutions.’’

via Retailers Say They Can’t Discriminate Against Debit Cards From Small Institutions.

Merchants Will Accept Small-Issuer Debit Cards Post-Durbin, Advocate Says (Digital Transactions)

Mitch Goldstone, president and chief executive of ScanMyPhotos.com in Irvine and sponsor of the WayTooHigh.com anti-interchange Web site, tells Digital Transactions News that as an owner of an e-commerce business, he can’t discern the issuers of bank cards his customers use. And, regarding point-of-sale purchases, “The last thing a harried sales clerk wants to deal with is telling a customer to use a certain card,” he says.

via. http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/3033

Credit Card Fees Taking Toll On Businesses – WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News – WLNS.COM |

Every time you swipe a debit card, a business has to eat that cost. According to the Michigan Restaurant Association it costs banks about four cents to process a transaction, but banks and credit card companies are charging as much as 10 times that amount, or about 44 cents, regardless of what’s purchased.

via Credit Card Fees Taking Toll On Businesses – WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News and Weather – WLNS.COM |.

MasterCard profit rises 24 percent – Yahoo! Finance

The world’s second-largest card processing network on Tuesday reported a profit of $562 million, or $4.29 per share. That compares with $455 million, or $3.46 per share, in the year-ago period.

via MasterCard profit rises 24 percent – Yahoo! Finance.

MasterCard 1Q profit up 24 pct on higher card use – Yahoo! Finance

The payment processor said Tuesday its net income rose to $562 million, or $4.29 per share, in the three months ended March 31. That’s up from $455 million, or $3.46 per share, in the year-ago period.

via MasterCard 1Q profit up 24 pct on higher card use – Yahoo! Finance.

Durbin says lower debit interchange fee works in Canada

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois recently said that U.S. banks are overreacting to the proposed limit of debit card interchange fees, because Canadian institutions don’t charge anything for processing this type of transaction

via Durbin says lower debit interchange fee works in Canada.

Credit card executives see sunny days ahead – Yahoo! News

“The cards businesses are incredibly vibrant and power virtually all of us today. These businesses are not going to disappear because of a single law.”

via Credit card executives see sunny days ahead – Yahoo! News.