This is thanks to a 2010 federal law known as the Durbin Amendment, which requires that merchants be able to select from at least two unaffiliated networks through which they can route their. 1693o-2, that requires the Federal Reserve to limit fees charged to retailers for debit card processing. As part of the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress enacted the so-called "Durbin Amendment," so named after its sponsor Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) which amended the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (the. Banks saw billion-dollar interchange fee losses and scrambled to earn back revenue by cutting free checking and raising fees and account minimum balances. In total, a University of Chicago report found that instead of saving money, the Durbin rule indirectly lost consumers between $22 and $25 billion. [17], The opinion was generally scathing and noted that the agency overruled its own staff, who had recommended a cap of 12 cents per transaction. However, market forces have not driven issuers and their network partners to enable multiple networks for such transactions. Click here to view the comment on the proposed rule. Judge Leon ordered the Federal Reserve to re-write its rule governing the cap on debit card swipe fees and implement a temporary regulation as well. CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General. For purposes of determining whether an issuer is exempt, networks may rely on the lists published by the Board. Merchants and card-issuing banks opposed the Federal Reserve rule. The Durbin Amendment routing mandate was a huge hit to consumer protection and choice. Under current law, enacted as part of the 2010 "Durbin Amendment," banks that issue debit cards must enable at least two unaffiliated debit networks to be available for each debit card transaction so merchants can have a choice of competitive options. Specifically, section 920 prohibits networks from inhibiting the ability of merchants to provide discounts or in-kind incentives for payments by cash, check, debit card, or credit card. The Durbin Amendment requires the Board to: prescribe regulations providing that an issuer or payment card network shall not directly or through any agent, processor, or licensed member of a payment card network, by contract, requirement, condition, penalty, or otherwise, restrict the Regulation II provides that an issuer complies with this requirement if the amount of the base level of each interchange fee received or charged by the issuer does not exceed 21 cents plus a variable factor equal to 5 basis points multiplied by the value of the transaction. Regulation II implements the provisions of section 920 of the EFTA that govern debit card interchange fees and network routing and exclusivity limitations. The Durbin Amendment forced banks to add an unaffiliated payment network to their debit cards and imposed a cap on debit card interchange fees, which banks charge to process debit transactions. This effort should include examining whether large debit card issuers and the dominant card networks may have mutual incentives to stifle PINless debit competition from smaller debit networks and whether they have violated Regulation II. . Smaller firms that have little or no market power will probably not see any reduction in fees from this. First, it requires that the amount of any interchange fee that an issuer of debit cards receives or charges with respect to an electronic debit transaction be reasonable and proportional to the cost incurred by the issuer with respect to the transaction. Thank you for your attention to this important matter, and we request that your staff follow up with our staffs to discuss next steps. Section 920 also prohibits networks from inhibiting the ability of merchants to set credit card minimums below $10 that do not differentiate among issuers or networks.3 These provisions of section 920 are self-executing and have not been addressed in Regulation II. The Durbin Amendment allows the Federal Reserve to put an artificial price cap on the interchange fees charged to large retailers every time a customer swipes a debit card. Washington, DC 20036 In 2011, Federal Reserve Regulation II required that issuers of debit cards must enable at least two unaffiliated debit networks on which debit transactions may be processed and must give merchants the ability to direct the routing of a debit transaction over any network that the issuer has enabled to process it. Debit cards that use transaction qualification or substantiation systems, such as certain health or other benefit cards: April 1, 2013. In order to assist small issuers in identifying which networks have implemented two-tier fee structures, the Board will publish annually a list of the average interchange fee each network provides to its covered issuers and exempt issuers. The interchange fee standards do not apply to interchange fees charged or received by an issuer that, together with affiliates, has total assets of less than $10 billion and that holds the account being debited. Amid substantial growth in online purchases in recent years, the Federal Reserve today reopened its rule on the Durbin Amendment. An issuer should contact its payment card network (or the payment card network it wishes to enable to process an electronic debit transaction) to determine whether the payment card network has rules or policies that restrict the operation of the network to a limited geographic area, specific merchant, particular type of merchant, or particular type of transaction (such as card-not-present electronic debit transactions). [19], The D.C. What does section 920 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act require? Section 920 of the EFTA also addresses discounts at the point of sale and transaction minimums. The Durbin Amendment (officially known as Section 920 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act) is part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act which limited the fees merchants had to pay banks with more than $10billion in assets (referred to as interchange fees) when customers used debit cards to make purchases. When the Fed first issued Reg II, the market had not developed solutions to broadly support multiple networks over which merchants could choose to route [CNP] transactions, the Fed said, noting that technology has since evolved to address these issues. choose from at least two unaffiliated debit networks for processing debit transactions. For example, the requirement applies to electronic debit transactions performed using a plastic card, a supplemental device such as a fob, information stored inside an e-wallet on a mobile phone or other device, or any other form of debit card, as defined in section 235.2, that may be developed in the future. The prohibition on routing restrictions in section 235.7(b) of Regulation II prohibits an issuer or payment card network from directly or indirectly inhibiting the ability of a merchant to direct the routing of an electronic debit transaction for processing over any of the payment card networks that the issuer has enabled to process the electronic debit transaction. An issuer may satisfy the prohibition on network exclusivity by enabling any two unaffiliated payment card networks to process an electronic debit transaction so long as the enabled networks meet the following two requirements. The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for enforcement with respect to other entities not covered by the above regulators. Synthetic identity fraud: Can your team recognize it? The fee is not charged or received with respect to a transaction using a debit card to initiate a debit to an account ("electronic debit transaction"). The start date of the contract. It's important to note that the Durbin Amendment and Reg II specifically state that merchants must be able to choose between at least two unaffiliated networks to process debit card payments. that credit cards be enabled with at least two unaffiliated networks, which would require the . We write today to alert you to a troubling development that is diminishing competition in the online electronic payments marketplace and costing American merchants potentially billions in excessive fees. However, Regulation II has been undermined periodically by the dominant networks efforts to circumvent and limit routing choice, requiring regulators to step in to ensure that competition is preserved. However, for a card-not-present transaction to be routed over a PINless debit network, the card-issuing bank must enable the cards Bank Identification Number (BIN) so that the PINless functionality will work. The Fed also today published its biennial survey of debit card issuers economics, which found that smaller debit card issuersthose covered by the Durbin Amendments routing provision but not its interchange fee capcontinue to see a decline in revenue from interchange fees on PIN debit transactions since the provision took effect. Designed to give merchants a choice of networks over which a debit card transaction may be routed, the Durbin Amendment requires issuers to enable at least two unaffiliated debit access networks. Thank you, Aaron, for that kind introduction. The Federal Reserve today finalized a controversial, ABA-opposed rule expanding Regulation II, the implementing regulation for the Durbin Amendment. D.C. Circuit Appellate Court Overturns Lower Court Decision on FRB's On October 3, 2022, the Federal Reserve finalized a rule expanding Regulation II (Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing), the implementing regulation for the Durbin Amendment. The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, provides For example, fees charged for checks, credit cards, or automated clearing house (ACH) transactions are not covered by section 920 or Regulation II. Thus, fees charged in connection with transactions wherein either the merchant or the account being debited is located in a foreign country are not covered by section 920 or Regulation II. Consumers have come to like their rewards cards, and for good reason: in 2020 rewards equaled roughly $60 billionno mere chump change. Ike Brannon is a senior fellow at the Jack Kemp Foundation, Five Guys Is the Answer to Elite Fear of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, Inflation Keeps The Housing Market Afloat For Now. In Montana and across the country, electronic payment methods are more essential than ever before. While the Fed characterized this change as a simple clarification, it is anything but, as evidenced by the over 2,600 comments received. The Fed - Supervision and Regulation: - Federal Reserve Board By David Morrison | Updated on July 31, 2013 Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter for the Justice Departments Antitrust Division issued the following statements today regarding the U.S. District Court for the District Office of Public Affairs The average interchange fee for exempt signature debit transactions rose modestly from 51 cents in 2011 to 54 cents in 2019. Everything You Need to Know About the Durbin Amendment - FreshBooks Which issuers are not subject to the interchange fee standards? 8. Copyright 2015-2022, American Bankers Association. Return to text, 5. Financial economists believe that the original Durbin Amendment led to the demise of free checking and debit rewards programs, which may increase the number of households without access to credit cards. Big box stores are now focused on credit card routing mandates, which we know from prior experience will end up hurting consumers. A finding of circumvention or evasion will depend on all relevant facts and circumstances. Podcast: Perspectives from two bank risk and compliance leaders, Podcast: The anatomy of a community bank ransomware attack, Podcast: Analyzing first-quarter earnings and 2023 annual meetings. As you know, the electronic payments industry is dominated by the card network duopoly Visa and Mastercard. This information may include, but is not limited to, information regarding transaction costs, interchange fees received, network fees, fraud-prevention costs, fraud losses, and transaction value, volume, and type. Banks would again see huge losses and look for ways to make back their money, such as raising fees and interest rates or tightening up their credit standards. If ultimately implemented, this rule would amplify the damage of the flawed Durbin Amendment, which never delivered on its promise to lower retail prices for consumers. 12. Numerous small debit networks which have traditionally conducted transactions using PIN authentication are also able to process online, or card-not-present, debit transactions without a PIN. on October 3, 2022 Newsbytes, Payments, Policy The Federal Reserve today finalized a controversial, ABA-opposed rule expanding Regulation II, the implementing regulation for the Durbin Amendment. One of the ways that the Biden Administration and the Democratic Congress has tried to deflect the opprobrium for the inflation spike of the last year or so has been to blame the middlementhose entities that facilitate transactions between buyers and sellersfor contributing to high prices without providing anything of value for what it receives. The fee is related to a transaction where either the merchant or the account being debited is outside the United States. Section 920 of the EFTA also addresses discounts at the point of sale and transaction minimums. We cannot let credit become more expensive for folks who are already struggling. The proposal would also clarify that the debit card issuer is responsible for ensuring at least two unaffiliated networks have been enabled and would standardize and clarify certain terms and phrases in the Feds Reg II commentary. 202-514-2000. And thank you to Brookings for hosting this event. Networks: Prepaid Cards Navigate the Durbin Waters The final rule is substantially similar to the original proposal, which ABA and other bank and credit union trade groups vigorously opposed after it was issued in the spring of 2021. American Bankers Association For this purpose, total assets are measured at the end of the calendar year preceding the date of the transaction.4 The Board will publish annually lists of institutions with consolidated assets of less than $10 billion and those with consolidated assets of $10 billion or more. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Banking essentially became less accessible for consumers, especially those in low-income communities who depend on low fees to keep their bank accounts open.
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