Washington, D.C. — Last Friday, Demand Progress Education Fund and a group of advocates and academics filed an amicus brief asking a federal court to reverse a Federal Reserve rule setting debit card fees that are far higher than what was mandated by Congress.
A bipartisan law passed by Congress in 2010 known as the Durbin Amendment aimed to slash debit card fees. However, the Fed rule implementing this law, Regulation II, caps debit card swipe fees at over five times more than the average transaction cost. The costs of these inflated fees ultimately get passed down to consumers, while making billions for the big banks.
“If we’re going to have a sensible payment system that provides services at low costs for consumers and small businesses, we cannot have a federal regulator that constantly does the bidding of big banks,” said Carter Dougherty, senior fellow for antimonopoly and finance at Demand Progress Education Fund. “If the Fed won’t revise its rules consistent with the will of Congress, then the courts should force it to act. Small businesses and consumers have waited long enough.”
The amicus brief included Demand Progress Education Fund, American Economic Liberties Project, Main Street Alliance, Small Business Majority, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Americans for Financial Reform, Groundwork Collaborative, Merchant Payments Coalition, Open Markets Institute and a group of academic experts on payments.