Law and regulation

The Federal Reserve’s proposed cap on debit fees is “discriminatory,” because it singles out the nation’s biggest banks and credit unions, so should be barred from being finalized, lawyers for Minnesota’s TCF Bank told a federal appeals court yesterday.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s merchant clients could save up to $2,000 annually as a result of pending limits on debit card interchange fees, an executive at the processing company said June 16.

Lawyers for Minnesota’s TCF Bank will tell a federal appeals court in St. Louis this morning that the Fed’s proposed cap on debit fees amounts to an unconstitutional “taking” of its assets, in a last-ditch effort by banks and credit unions to block the Fed’s final rule.

A member of the Senate Banking Committee is calling for an investigation into a data breach at Citigroup.

Visa and MasterCard have developed services for merchants to determine which cards cost more to accept — rekindling the debate over whether small banks will suffer under the Durbin amendment.

The Department of Justice filed papers yesterday to implement the settlement of its antitrust suit against Visa and MasterCard, which will prevent the two card networks from barring merchants from steering transactions to lower-cost cards.

While most of the attention so far has focused on who will be the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would-be employees are increasingly anxious about how and when the agency plans to fill the lower ranks.

When Congress threatened to cap the interchange fees that banks collect on debit card transactions, the industry argued that such a move would force it to kill off its own debit rewards programs. As it turns out, the demise of those programs might inconvenience consumers but it is unlikely to deal banks much of a financial blow.

U.S. Senators. Charles Schumer , D-N.Y., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are urging the U.S. Department of Justice Department to shut down an underground online drug-trade site called Silk Road, but in a June 6 open letter to the department the senators barely touched on the digital currency–Bitcoins–that fuels the site’s commerce.

Effective July 1, retailers in the United Arab Emirates no longer may assess surcharges to customers who pay by credit card under a ruling last week from the country’s Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection.

Bank Indonesia is drafting a regulation that would establish a minimum age and income for credit cardholders and limit how many cards someone may hold, confirms a spokesperson for the country’s central bank.

WASHINGTON — Bankers lost the Senate fight over interchange fees, but they are hoping the vote will help convince the Federal Reserve Board to raise its proposed 12-cent cap.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve is expected to vote a final rule on debit fees a week from today, now that a credit union-backed proposal to delay the rules has been shot down in Congress.

Pennsylvania's Attorney General's office has filed a motion asking to amend the consumer-protection lawsuit against collection agency Unicredit America Inc. to include Michael Covatto, company president, and Anthony D. Covatto, company vice president, as defendants.

The top South Korean financial regulator plans to restrict credit card issuance and curtail issuers’ marketing budgets to combat growing household debt in that country.

WASHINGTON — Although banks failed in their attempt to convince Congress to delay an interchange fee cap for debit cards, the financial services industry is not giving up, just changing venues.

The top South Korean financial regulator plans to restrict credit card issuance and curtail issuers’ marketing budgets to combat growing household debt in that country.

WASHINGTON — In a nail-biting conclusion after weeks of fierce lobbying by bankers and retailers, the Senate defeated a bill Wednesday that would have delayed the Federal Reserve Board's proposal to cap interchange fees for debit cards.

WASHINGTON — Just hours before the Senate votes on the biggest post-Dodd-Frank bill for the industry, no one in Washington knows what the outcome will be.

WASHINGTON – The credit union and banking lobbies were pulling out all the stops last night to round up a few more votes for their bid to delay cuts in debit fees, but the effort was still a handful of votes short.