CUNA backs Durbin repeal in letter to HFSC leaders

The Durbin Amendment has failed consumers, low-income families and credit unions CUNA wrote Monday to U.S. House Financial Services Committee leadership. CUNA and other financial trade organizations wrote in support of a provision in the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 5983) that would repeal the Durbin Amendment prior to the committee’s markup of H.R. 5983.

The Durbin Amendment, an addition to the Dodd-Frank Act, sets government price controls on debit card interchange fees.

“That tangential addition to the act was made without any hearings or analysis, and was sold on the promise of delivering lower prices to consumers. A so-called exemption was supposed to ‘protect’ small community banks and credit unions from the law’s harmful price controls,” the letter reads. “The Durbin Amendment has not delivered on any of these promises, providing benefits only to retailers, and must be repealed.”

The letter goes on to highlight that retailers pledged to use the savings realized under the Durbin Amendment to serve consumers through actions such as lower prices and other advantages.

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