Regulation

With new restrictions taking effect and billions in fees at stake, banks are not giving up on overdraft services without a fight.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted late Thursday to remove an interchange amendment authored by Sen. Dick Durbin.

In their first presentations to analysts after the financial reform bill passed, some bank executives treated the landmark legislation like any other facet of business, sandwiching relevant cost estimates between the usual slides on capital ratios and credit losses.

Visa Inc. on July 28 reported net income of $716 million for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, down 1.8% from $729 million during the same period a year earlier. Net operating revenue was $2 billion, up 21.2% from $1.65 billion, driven by growth in data processing and international transaction revenue, the company said.

WASHINGTON–The banking industry was caught off guard this week as Sen. Dick Durbin, fresh off a victory to add interchange regulation to the financial-reform bill, mounted another legislative effort on interchange that appears to be gaining momentum.

A Senate subcommittee yesterday endorsed a bill that would cap interchange fees charged to federal government entities for taxes and other services at the lowest market rate, continuing efforts to lower interchange fees charged by credit unions and banks.

A provision in the regulatory reform law that received scant attention during the protracted debate in Congress is already generating more business at some debit networks.

Several marketers are banned from selling mortgage modification or foreclosure relief services under settlements with the Federal Trade Commission.

With the financial regulatory reform bill signed into law by President Obama, the collection industry is bracing for the expected impact of the broad and complex legislation.