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Banks appeared to be gaining the upper hand in their battle against retailers to delay pending interchange fee caps, but the fight was far from over.
June 7 -
Although Senate leaders have confirmed they will allow a floor vote soon on delaying interchange fee restrictions, the timing, outcome and vehicle for suspending the proposed cap are still anyone's guesses.
May 18 -
The National Credit Union Administration reiterated concerns about how a debit interchange proposal by the Federal Reserve Board could hurt small credit unions.
May 5 -
Montana Democrat Jon Tester has been hit by attack ads protesting his bill to delay proposed debit interchange fee restrictions, but his close reelection race may ultimately help the bill.
May 3 -
While the banking industry clearly has momentum on its side in the fight to delay a rule that would limit debit interchange fees, time for Congress to act is rapidly running out.
April 21 -
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank required more time to review the more than 11,000 comment letters it has received on its interchange proposal issued in December.
March 29
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 insiders estimate Sens. Jon Tester and Bob Corker are still a few colleagues short of the 60-vote threshold needed to delay a cap on debit-card swipe fees. But their compromise bill announced yesterday — shortening the delay to a year from 15 months and making enough substantive regulatory changes so Congress may not have to revisit the issue in the future — has shifted enough momentum the industry's way to put some of the fence-sitters within reach.
Here are seven senators, including both Democrats and Republicans, who are top targets today for their vote:
- Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
- David Vitter, R-La.
- Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
- John Boozman, R-Ark.
- Ben Cardin, D-Md.
- Joe Manchin, D-W.V.
- Roger Wicker, R-M
Both the bankers and the merchants have elements to their advantage. While the banks have momentum, the merchants' biggest weapon is Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. The original sponsor of the interchange provisions in Dodd-Frank — which the Tester-Corker bill would roll back somewhat — Durbin is the Senate's majority whip with a strong base of allies. In short, Durbin has a lot of power and influence in the Senate, and fought for years to get interchange limits enacted. Observers expect him to pull out all the stops in a bid to stop Tester's legislation from passing.
Ultimately, while the vote today is a rare nail-biter, the winning side may enjoy a comfortable margin. Senators who show up late to the vote are likely hoping that one side has a clear advantage by then, which would enable them to support the victor.
In a research note today, FBR Capital Markets said the "vote count remains fluid," illustrated yesterday by three senators "who previously voted for the Durbin Amendment" and "publicly announced that they will support Senator Tester's delaying amendment."
"It is likely that several of the undecided members will wait until the end of the vote before casting their individual vote," FBR said. "This is a tactic used by members on controversial issues that allows them to gauge whether they will be on the winning side or not."
