Op-Ed: Fed finds (again!) that Durbin Amendment hurts consumers

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors recently released a report called “The Impact of Price Controls in Two-sided Markets: Evidence from US Debit Card Interchange Fee Regulation.” That dense title is one that few consumers—or even policy wonks—will put on their August reading lists.

They should. It proves, yet again, that lawmakers like House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and others were right: the Durbin amendment, shoved into the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill at the last minute by politicians doing the bidding of merchants like Walmart, is the reason that American consumers are paying more to bank.

Continue Reading