WASHINGTON–Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) has introduced legislation (HR 5465) that would repeal section 1075 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, also known as the Durbin Amendment.
The introduction of the bill quickly earned praise.
“We thank Rep. Randy Neugebauer for his leadership in introducing an important reform to the Dodd-Frank Act,” said CUNA CEO Jim Nussle. “The Neugebauer bill would reverse the Durbin Amendment, which sets price controls on debit card transactions and imposes routing requirements that have resulted in an $8-billion annual handout to retailers.
“In fighting for debit card restrictions as part of the 2010 Wall Street reform package, retailers claimed they would pass savings onto consumers in the form of better prices on goods and services,” Nussle continued. “However, five years after the Federal Reserve issued a rule to implement the amendment, retailers have kept most of this revenue—an estimated $36 billion—for themselves, according the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
“The Durbin Amendment has been bad for consumers and has been a burden on credit unions. Unlike merchants, credit unions and other financial institutions do not simply pocket interchange revenues,” said Nussle. “We use them to support a global payments network and invest in developing the latest security technologies, such as real-time predictive analytics, EMV, tokenization, biometrics and end-to-end encryption, to help keep consumers’ data safe. We urge Congress to pass this important measure.”