Skip to content
Back

After Four Years, Durbin Amendment Still Failing Consumers

| American Banker

This week marks the fourth anniversary of the “Durbin amendment,” a defective law directing the Federal Reserve to impose price-controls on debit interchange fees.

Slipped into the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill at the eleventh hour, the amendment has resulted in billions of dollars in revenue for merchants and not even a Slurpee of savings for consumers.

Big-box retailers like Target, Walgreens, Home Depot, and Walmart promised Congress they would pass their savings — about $8 billion annually — to consumers in the form of lower prices. From the beginning, critics of the law, including consumer groups, predicted that retailers would pocket these savings instead.

Get the Latest Updates Delivered to Your Inbox

By submitting you agree to our Terms & Conditions