Vote on Amendment to Interchange Regs Scheduled for Today

interchange delay in senateA Senate vote is expected today on whether to delay implementation of the Durbin Interchange Amendment. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) recently revised his proposal to slow down and study impact of the implementation of the Durbin Amendment on debit card interchange. The amendment is intended to provide additional time to study the impact of the Federal Reserve’s proposed interchange rules.

The amendment is being tacked on as an amendment to S. 782, the Economic Development Revitalization Act, currently on the Senate Floor, and is cosponsored by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN).

In general, the amendment proposes a 12-month delay of the Durbin Amendment. It calls on the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and National Credit Union Association to make “determinations” about the Federal Reserve Rules, including whether:

• The rules properly consider all fixed and incremental costs;
• The rules might adversely impact debit card consumers; or
• The small issuer exemption would actually be effective in practice.

Under the amendment proposed by Sen. Tester, if the Federal Reserve and one other agency make any one of these determinations, the Federal Reserve must to rewrite the debit card interchange rules within six months.

Tester discusses the amendment in a floor speech yesterday:

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