House Republicans did not repeal debit card swipe fee reform.
During the Great Recession, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 mandated that debit card swipe fees be limited to a flat fee of approximately 21 cents per transaction. Before the Act, banks were charging about 45 cents per debit transaction.
But the House introduced the Financial Choice Act, a broad rewrite of Dodd-Frank including language to repeal debit swipe fee reform and remove caps on debit card swipe fees. It gained the ire of groups such as the National Retail Federation (NRF).
NRF asked Congress to reject the legislation, citing fears that swipe fees from banks could more than double and force retailers to pass the fees on to consumers. NRF also launched a radio, newspaper and digital advertising campaign calling on the House to reject the bill.
The House removed the swipe-fee repeal language before passing the legislation in June.
“This is a major victory for consumers,” said Mallory Duncan, NRF senior vice president and general counsel. “Repeal of reform would have allowed banks to return to the uncompetitive market that allowed them to set fees as high as they liked.”
