ABA Warns Against Government Involvement In Interchange

The American Bankers Association said today it "strongly opposes" the bill Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., introduced yesterday to regulate interchange rates. "Just like the bill introduced in the House in March, this legislation inappropriately inserts the government in the role of setting prices in the private marketplace, undercutting a pricing system that currently benefits consumers, businesses and the broader economy," Edward L. Yingling, association president and CEO, said in a statement. According to the association, interchange revenue helps to support the infrastructure costs required to support the card-payments system and the risk nonpayment issuers routinely assume. "The result will be more federal bureaucracy, less industry competition and fewer choices—and ultimately higher prices—for consumers, as is always the case when government tries to fix prices," the statement continued.