The House Financial Services Committee today held a hearing on the Financial Choice Act, Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling’s (R-Texas) sweeping, 600-page bill aimed at reforming parts of the Dodd-Frank Act’s extensive supervisory regime and providing regulatory relief for banks.
As representatives from the retail industry hit Capitol Hill this week to lobby members of Congress, American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols called on lawmakers to repeal the Durbin Amendment, which imposed government price controls on debit card interchange.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) today released the latest legislative text of his Financial Choice Act, a 600-page bill aimed at rolling back and reforming parts of the Dodd-Frank Act’s extensive supervisory regime, as well as providing regulatory relief for banks of all sizes.
Small merchants place a higher value on the services they get when accessing the payments system than on paying a low interchange rate, according to a recent survey.
In a joint letter to House leadership today, ABA, along with 793 banks and 49 state associations, urged Congress to include a repeal of the Durbin Amendment in financial reform legislation this year.
Debit card-related fraud losses to merchants, cardholders and issuers rose from 2013 by 44 percent, reaching $2.41 billion in 2015, according to the Federal Reserve’s biennial survey of debit card issuers’ costs released today.
Under the Durbin Amendment, card networks cannot require merchants to allow debit cardholders to choose EMV chip application when one application routes to a single network, according to a Q&A added on Wednesday to the Federal Reserve’s Regulation II frequently asked questions page.
The House Financial Services Committee today approved the Financial Choice Act, a major regulatory reform bill introduced by committee chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). It passed by a vote of 30 to 26, with no Democrats voting in favor and one Republican, Bruce Poliquin of Maine, voting against as well.
An appellate court today rejected the settlement in which Visa, MasterCard and credit card-issuing major banks agreed to pay $6.05 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit by retailers alleging the violation of antitrust laws in setting credit card interchange fees.
In an op-ed in The Hill today, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols called for the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment, which he said has negatively affected banks’ ability to serve their customers and failed to deliver its promise of lower prices for consumers.