NCCR Expresses Disappointment with Legislation to Devastate Debit Card Swipe Fee Reform

For Immediate Release
Contact: J. Craig Shearman (202) 626-8134
shearmanc@nrf.com

NCCR Expresses Disappointment with Legislation to Devastate Debit Card Swipe Fee Reform

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2011 – The National Council of Chain Restaurants today expressed deep disappointment regarding the introduction of legislation in Congress to halt pro-consumer debit card swipe fee reform. S. 575, the Debit Interchange Fee Study Act of 2011, sponsored by Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., would prevent swipe fee relief from going into effect in July 2011 by delaying it for two years and calling for yet another study by government agencies.

“The debit card swipe fee law passed by Congress last year allows for a debit card marketplace which promotes competition while protecting restaurateurs and their customers from unfair interchange transaction fees charged by the big credit card companies,” NCCR Executive Director Rob Green said. “It is unfortunate that some members of Congress are defending the biggest of the big banks, which collect billions of dollars in excess fees from restaurant owners and other merchants at the expense of local businesses that are at the mercy of these financial behemoths.”

Regulations were proposed by the Federal Reserve in December to implement the debit card provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by Congress last year. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to issue a final version of the regulations in April and the reforms are set to take effect in July.

“We will continue to make our straightforward case to members of the House and Senate that debit card swipe relief is long overdue and that delay of these critical reforms will cost consumers and merchants $1 billion per month,” Green said.  “We hope that Congress continues to focus on important priorities such as job creation and rejects attempts to serve up a $24 billion windfall for the big credit card companies.”

For more than 40 years, NCCR has worked to advance sound public policy that best serves the interests of restaurant businesses and the millions of people they employ. NCCR members include many the country’s most well-respected quick-serve and casual-dining companies. NCCR is a division of the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade group.  www.nccr.net

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