NRF Welcomes Judge’s Demand that Fed Move Quickly on New Debit Swipe Rules

WASHINGTON--()--The National Retail Federation welcomed a federal judge’s insistence today that the Federal Reserve move quickly on issuing new regulations to reduce debit card swipe fees paid by retailers and consumers.

“We’re very pleased to see the court light a fire under the Fed,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said. “These fees have been driving up prices for merchants and their customers for years, and every day that it continues is one day too long. The court is absolutely correct that this is a multi-billion-dollar issue with huge implications for the U.S. economy and needs to be dealt with immediately.”

In a lawsuit brought by NRF and other trade associations, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled last month that the Federal Reserve ignored instructions from Congress when it set a 21-cent cap on debit card swipe fees charged by the nation’s largest banks in 2011, reducing the fees from an average of about 45 cents per transaction. Leon said the cap was too high because the Fed included expenses that went beyond banks’ “reasonable” and “proportional” costs of processing debit transactions as allowed by Congress.

The Fed has 60 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling. But in a hearing this morning in Washington, Leon told Associate General Counsel Katherine Wheatley he wants the agency to move ahead with new swipe fee regulations in the meantime. He said he expects interim regulations to be completed by the end of October, and that they should go into effect while comments are accepted and reviewed. Leon did not set a deadline, but scheduled a hearing for August 21 for the Fed to state its position on the proposal and to say how soon interim regulations could be put in place.

Leon also gave the Fed and attorneys for retailers and banks a September 16 deadline for briefs on whether merchants should be reimbursed for excess amounts of swipe fees that have been collected since the cap took effect in October 2011.

Leon, who said in last month’s ruling that he wanted new regulations in “months, not years,” reiterated his demand for quick action.

“They can come (home) from where they are on vacation,” he said, referring to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. “This is a large-scale matter affecting millions of entities and billions of dollars.”

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes, including chain restaurants and industry partners, from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation. www.nrf.com

Contacts

National Retail Federation
J. Craig Shearman, 202-626-8134
shearmanc@nrf.com

Contacts

National Retail Federation
J. Craig Shearman, 202-626-8134
shearmanc@nrf.com