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U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has asked House leadership to allow his panel to review legislation that would regulate credit and debit card interchange rates. The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill, The Credit Card Fair Fee Act, two months ago by a 19 to 16 vote (CardLine, 7/16). The bill, introduced by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in March, would require card networks to negotiate new interchange rates with retailers in a process overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. Merchant acquirers pay card issuers interchange and pass the expense on to their retailer clients as part of the discount rate. "As this bill addresses a number of complex issues regarding banks, banking, extension of credit, operation of credit networks and the pricing of credit, the committee with subject-matter expertise over these issues should have the opportunity to consider the bill, at least on a sequential basis," Frank wrote in a Sept. 12 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Observers say little time remains in this congressional session for extensive debate on the bill, which has not been scheduled to move to the House for a vote. A spokesperson from the American Bankers Association tells CardLine he is not surprised by the eleventh-hour request for further discussion on the bill. "Rep. Frank had indicated a desire to exercise jurisdiction over this issue months ago," he says. Pelosi's office did not return calls. Separately, legislative observers say they expect Frank to move within the week that the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights go to a vote before the full House.
