WASHINGTON– The National Retail Federation is reporting that the House will drop a provision that would have repealed the Durbin Amendment from legislation on which it is expected to vote in June. If true—and CUToday.info has been unable to independently confirm–it would be a blow to credit unions, which have lobbied hard for repeal of the Durbin Amendment and the cap it puts on swipe fees.
The National Retail Federation said it had been told by House Republican leaders that the Financial CHOICE Act, which passed out of the House Financial Services Committee with the provision repealing the Durbin Amendment still included in language, will not include the provision when it goes to the House floor for a vote. Retailers have been lobbying aggressively against repeal of the Durbin Amendment, claiming it has saved retailers and their customers more than $40 billion.
“This is a major victory for the consumers who have saved billions of dollars under swipe fee reform and for the communities where retailers have used swipe savings to improve customer service, create jobs and boost the local economy,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said in a statement. “Repeal of reform would have allowed banks to return to the uncompetitive market that that allowed them to set these fees as high as they liked. The progress that was made toward competition would have been lost, and consumers would have seen nothing but higher prices. Despite tonight’s good news, we will continue to follow this bill to the end and ensure that repeal is not included in the final legislation.”
The Durbin Amendment and its cap on swipe fees has been in place since the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. The House is expected to vote on the bill after it returns from its Memorial Day recess in June.