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NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger slammed the ongoing negative impact of the Dodd-Frank Act's Durbin interchange amendment in an editorial in The Hill Monday, emphasizing that the amendment has not passed on savings to consumers.

"We know the amendment hasn't helped American families. It's been seven years since retailers promised consumers that they'd pay less at the checkout counter if Congress put price caps on debit card fees," Berger wrote. "Analysis of Federal Reserve data shows retailers have pocketed about $42 billion during this period, and shoppers are still waiting for those rollbacks.

"Federal Reserve data also shows that the Durbin amendment's price cap negatively impacted small financial institutions," he continued. "Despite the exemption for institutions under $10 billion, interchange revenue to credit unions and community banks has dropped, with a 16.6 percent decline in revenue from PIN transactions and 5.2 percent decline in revenue from signature transactions."

Berger noted that while the amendment's provision concerning who chooses a network for card transactions "might sound like splitting hairs," it has real consequences for credit unions and their members. "Having more than one network on a card was possible before Durbin, and many credit unions exercised that choice," Berger wrote. "Now, it's a government mandate, even if it's not the best solution for cardholders."

Berger also pointed to the results of a new study from Javelin Strategy and Research and the Electronic Payments Coalition, of which NAFCU is a member. The study showed that small merchants are "more concerned about the value they get from interchange than the cost." The study indicates that continued federal price controls will erode flexibility for small merchants in how they do business.

Both credit unions and small merchants would be better able to serve consumers without the amendment, Berger said.

NAFCU encourages its members to contact their lawmakers about the need to repeal the Durbin amendment through the association's Grassroots Action Center.