Appeals court upholds Fed’s 21-cent cap on retailer ‘swipe fees’
"A Federal Reserve rule allowing banks to charge retailers 21 cents to process debit-card transactions has been upheld by a federal appeals panel, a blow to big merchants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. The dispute stems from a Dodd-Frank provision that required the Fed to set the so-called interchange fees, known colloquially as swipe fees, at a level reflecting the actual processing costs. The Fed's staff recommended cutting the fee from 44 cents per transaction on average to just 12 cents. But after heated protests from the financial industry, the Fed in June 2011 set a cap of 21 cents per transaction." Continue reading →
