Newsroom

Aug. 6, 2012 – Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., filed a statement last week criticizing the Federal Reserve Board's debit interchange rule as well as the recent $6 billion-plus settlement offered by Visa and MasterCard in a credit card fee antitrust suit from 2005.

In his statement to the Senate, Durbin reiterated his view that the Fed didn't go low enough in setting a cap on debit interchange fees. He said more reform is needed.

The settlement would result in $6.2 billion being paid by Visa and MasterCard to the plaintiffs in the suit and a 10-cent reduction in credit card interchange fees for about eight months, depending on how many merchants decide to remain in the class; overall, this would total an estimated $7.25 billion. It's a historic antitrust settlement, but Durbin says it's too small and would stand in the way of added reforms.

"I have worked hard over the years to make sure that merchants and consumers do not get nickled [sic] and dimed to death with hidden and unreasonable fees from Visa and MasterCard, and we have made great strides," he said. He encouraged any merchants that have yet to decide about the settlement offer to "think hard about whether it will be good for the future of our credit and debit card systems."

The Visa/MasterCard settlement, if it goes forward, will ultimately affect all card issuers. It bars any merchant, whether or not it participates in this settlement, from bringing the same complaint again to the extent the rules do not change.