Move to scrap swipe-fee limit fails
A U.S. Senate vote has paved the way for the Federal Reserve to cap fees that banks can collect from retailers who process debit card transactions.
Opponents of the Fed's plan to cap the so-called swipe fees retailers must pay to banks for every debit card transaction failed yesterday to garner the necessary 60 votes to delay the action, according to The Associated Press. The vote clears the way for the Fed to issue final rules July 21 that cut the average 44 cents that banks charge per debit-card transaction to 12 cents, a move many Maine businesses support. Curtis Picard of the Maine Merchants Association told the Maine Public Broadcasting Network that the fees -- which collect $16 billion annually for banks and credit card companies -- "have been a dramatic burden on merchants for a number of years."
The change is part of a number of financial reforms in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed last year. Though the swipe fee changes only apply to larger banks with more than $10 billion in assets, Maine banking officials have told Mainebiz that smaller banks will have to adhere to the new rules in order to stay competitive. Lost revenues for banks could mean higher costs for consumers, Dick Roy, chief banking officer at Mechanics Savings Bank in Auburn, told Mainebiz last year.
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