Regulation

WASHINGTON — The banking industry is mounting an assault on multiple fronts to weaken, stall or repeal the restrictions on debit interchange fees championed by Sen. Dick Durbin in the Dodd-Frank Act before the policy goes into effect this summer.

The head of TCF Financial Corp., which filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Board in October challenging its proposed debit card interchange rate cuts, said Jan. 20 that growing opposition to the proposal may help his case. The effort is part of a multi-pronged attack from banks on the debit interchange restrictions (see story).

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippines central bank, has issued new regulations designed to further protect the country’s credit cardholders from abuse.

The Durbin amendment carved out smaller banks from its mandate to restrict debit swipe fees, and at least one of the major networks is willing to oblige, but equity markets do not appear to have cut the group much slack.

Addressing analysts Jan. 19 during a conference call to discuss fourth quarter earnings, Dan Poston, chief financial officer at Fifth Third Bancorp, noted it is too early to predict how the bank will react to reductions in debit card interchange revenue.

U.S. Bancorp had expected to wait to see how other financial institutions reacted to recent legislative and policy changes that have or will affect revenue before deciding on the course of action it takes.

WASHINGTON – In a rulemaking process turned upside down, credit unions and community banks exempt from the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal limiting debit card interchange fees are dominating the comment process, while the big institutions coming under the rule have yet to weigh in (see story).

Defendants that the Federal Trade Commission alleged stole millions of dollars from consumers through unauthorized charges and debits to bank accounts have reached settlement agreements with the FTC.

Mobile-banking access is one of several services financial institutions might start charging for if the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed new debit card interchange rules take affect, one analyst believes.

U.S. consumers will not be receiving any more telemarketing pitches from robocaller Fereidoun Khalilian, under a settlement reached by the Federal Trade Commission.