Biz: Senate goes back-and-forth fighting over debit card fees
- 44¢ the average cost of debit card interchange fees to merchants; this should make you feel guilty every time you go to 7-Eleven, because that cuts into profit margins heavily
- 12¢ the limit that the Feds plan to impose upon banking companies about this matter; this is a $16 billion/year business, and banking companies are fighting to protect it source
- » A fight that directly affects small businesses: We’ve been to many small businesses in our day that have gone out of their way to avoid using debit cards, specifically for this reason. We’re with them in this case; really high charges for every purchase, even tiny ones, is straight up greedy. Fortunately, a key senator, Dick Durbin, agrees with us: “Honestly, are we going to stand here and say we can’t protect small businesses across America struggling to survive?” The fight for keeping the fees has bipartisan support; the main guys backing banks in the Senate are Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jon Tester (D-MT). They claim that banks will have to replace the interchange charges with higher fees on consumers. Maybe they should; the benefit to small business as an economic driver makes it worth it.