From: The Washington Post/On Small Business
By J.D. Harrison
Community banks and credit unions are reporting lower debit-card processing revenue as a result of financial reform laws, sparking concerns that they may be forced to impose new fees on customers to offset their losses.
Their experience stood in contrast to new reports published by the Federal Trade Commission and the Government Accountability Office, which suggest that a provision meant to protect small banks from debit-card reform has indeed shielded them from any significant losses in revenue. The provision exempted small financial institutions from reducing their card processing fees (or “swipe fees”) but capped them for large banks. Regulators said the change prompted credit-card companies to create a two-tiered pricing system in which small banks can continue charging customers higher rates each time they use their debit cards.