Regulation

WASHINGTON — Just a month ago, most analysts dismissed the banking industry's chances of persuading Congress to delay, alter or repeal a Dodd-Frank provision limiting interchange fees on debit cards.

The Asian Development Bank reportedly has asked Philippines President Benigno Aquino III to consider giving tax breaks to credit cardholders in the country to encourage more card use.

Authorities discovered nine card-skimming devices attached to local ATMs last week that caused thousands of dollars of fraud losses to area institutions, including $5,538 in fraudulent cash withdrawals from members’ accounts at Hughes Federal Credit Union.

The Federal Trade Commission asked a federal judge to shut down an operation that allegedly blasted consumers with millions of illegal spam text messages, including many messages that deceptively advertised a mortgage modification Web site called “Loanmod-gov.net.”

Banks are looking beyond consumers to Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. to share the pain of lower interchange fees.

The Federal Reserve Board’s proposed new debit-interchange rates are unlikely to go into effect this summer without some significant changes, the co-chief of a large independent service organization speculates.

WASHINGTON — A year after the credit card reform law was enacted, Elizabeth Warren, the administration's official in charge with setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the industry has improved its practices and warned against over regulation of the card market.

The Federal Reserve Board and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are asking a federal judge to dismiss TCF Financial Corp.'s lawsuit, which seeks to block implementation of the Durbin amendment.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is considering limiting the size of purchases allowed on its debit cards in response to the Federal Reserve Board's proposed cap on interchange fees.

Wary ISOs and acquirers are putting hiring and other plans on hold as they await the Federal Reserve Board's final version of new debit card interchange rules, which likely will reconfigure their revenue streams.