NRF Ups Ante in Swipe-Fee Fight

The battle over swipe-fee reform might be entering its final act.

Just a couple of months before swipe-fee reform is scheduled to take effect on July 21, the National Retail Federation trade group called for a lobbying and an advocacy campaign to protect swipe-fee reform.Swipe-fee reform was part of the financial-overhaul bill that passed the Senate in July 2010 on a 60–39 vote. The overhaul bill’s Durbin Interchange Amendment mandated that debit-card swipe fees—the fees charged every time a consumer uses a debit card—must be regulated by the Federal Reserve into a charge that is “reasonable and proportional” to a purchase.

In December, the Fed first recommended that debit-card swipe fees would be cut from their current level of 1 percent to 2 percent of each transaction to a flat fee of no more than 12 cents for large banks that adhere to fee schedules set by credit-card companies.Credit-card companies and banks have been lobbying hard to postpone the reform from taking effect. Recently, Sen. Jon Tester (D–Mont.) proposed an amendment to delay swipe-fee reform for two years for further implementation. Leaders of the NRF pledged to fight back.

“The banking industry has engaged in a massive multi-million-dollar campaign of misinformation and threats intended to deprive consumers of the savings they are entitled to under reform,” said Mallory Duncan, NRF senior vice president and general counsel.

The NRF advocacy campaign has a website to get retailers and consumers to lobby their elected leaders. The NRF also will mount a national advertising campaign and a June “fly-in,” where business owners will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress and urge them not to postpone or repeal swipe fees.—Andrew Asch