Of Special Interest
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- Newslink Trends-The Global Strategic Perspective
- Juniper Research says digital wallet users to exceed 4.4 billion by 2025, as mobile drives digital payments’ revolution
- Criminals exploit COVID-19 pandemic with rise in scams targeting victims online
- Equifax says Open Banking proving pivotal to pandemic lending
- Consumer confidence in banks, credit card providers and investments remain stable as demand supercharges digital finance says Toluna research
- Mintos says Europeans are starting to embrace investing
- US banks see IT modernisation as a way to improve customer experience
- Risk mitigation in global trade depends on digitisation-Andrew Raymond, CEO, Bolero International comments
- Juniper Research new study says the volume of B2B payments facilitated by non-banks will exceed 53 billion in 2022, from a COVID-related low of 38 billion in 2020
- CMA issues fifth publication over 3 years of the service quality league table of personal and business current account providers
- Barclays says scammers take advantage of COVID-19, cashing in on nations’ uncertainty
- S&P Global report says financial market infrastructure sector's earnings likely to cool off In second half
- Global banking market capitalisation slumps by over 30% amid pandemic says Buyshares research
- Digital wallet spend in Europe & North America to increase by 40% in 2019, finds study
- Juniper forecasts mobile money transactions will exceed 200 billion by 2024
- Banks can save the world from climate change, says former UN climate chief
- Research by NatWest reveals gender divide over attitudes to saving
- Europe’s big bank problem: too much capital is trapped in the US, says Scope
- Later-Life lending market set to almost double in the next 10 years, finds report
- Barclays/Cebr report challenges nation to think differently about wealth
- Fifth of UK investors looking to debt investment, new research reveals
- Regtech will play a more important role in PSD2, says Mitek
- Banks turn to Fintech partnerships to improve customer experience, finds Fraedom
- New industry code to tackle fraud must deliver, says Which?
- New TTF report highlights loss of trust in financial services
- Arxan highlights financial app vulnerability epidemic
- SAS asks whether banks really need to choose between operations and innovation
- Which? raises alarm as almost 1,700 free ATMs become fee-charging
- Financial wellness affects half of peoples’ mental or physical health, finds report
- Study finds traditional financial institutions embrace Fintech disruption
- Grass is greener for environmentally friendly businesses, finds Barclays
- Prospective homeowners would consider a 40-year mortgage to escape renting, finds Santander
- Millennials’ needs are changing the face of banking industry, says new report
- FS is putting consumer data at risk by failing to protect mobile apps, says Arxan
- A lack of belief in their ability holds 28% women back in work, says Cambridge & Counties
- ‘Which?’ reveals Scotland has lost over a third of its bank branches in eight years
- Next downturn unlikely to be as bad as 2008, according to S&P
- FCA reveals findings from first cryptoassets consumer research
- US consumers favour single mobile app for banking and payments
- Banks suffering major IT shutdowns every day, ‘Which?’ reveals
- The US will be a key offshore centre in 2019, says GlobalData
- Debit industry changes markedly in 10 years of the Debit Issuer Study
- UK's ‘Big Five’ face ‘too big to compete’ as small challengers secure stellar returns
- Banks as vulnerable now as before crash, says new study
- Leverage ratio a constant conundrum for European and US banks, says SNL
1st July 2011
Fed generous to card issuers on Durbin cap
The Federal Reserve has set a cap on debit card fees in the United States of 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction value under the provisions of the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd Frank Act. The flat fee is up from a proposed 5-12 cent rate suggested in the earlier paper. The percentage of the transaction fee is an entirely new component and has been introduced to cover fraud cost. It is a response to the banks argument that fraud was the one element that was variable with transaction value whilst the other components are variable with transaction numbers. The cap on fees comes into force on October 1st this year.
Card issuers are to be required to use at least two non-affiliated networks, the option 'A' in the earlier paper. Card Issuers must not ban retailers from using the network of their choice. The retailer choice of network also comes into force in October. The two independent networks must be made available by issuers from April 1st 2012. Complex card such as cards with health benefits and also pre-paid cards get a further year to comply with this part of the regulation.
The Durbin Amendment has been very controversial and only narrowly missed an attempt to have it postponed indefinitely by the Senate. Those opposed argue it is interference with a free market. Those in favour say it will stop unfair charges especially to small retailers which resulted in higher costs getting passed on and especially hurting the less well off. This group also argue that the free market rhetoric was just the big bank lobbying influence. The Federal Reserve itself noted certain misgivings about the law.
Whilst the card issuers still do not like the new law the almost doubling of the proposed cap level will probably keep most from protesting too much - in the short term at least. TCF sought an injunction to delay the implementation of the amendment whilst the constitutionality of the 'price fixing' was investigated. This was denied with an appeal to the federal appellate court in St. Louis also denied.
The enforced reduction in debit card fees could also remove a factor which may otherwise have led to certain retailers discouraging their acceptance and conceivably could lead to card issuers gaining more income from debit cards in the longer term.