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EPC Continues to Fight for Repeal of Price Controls
The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) promised to keep fighting for repeal of the Durbin amendment today and will continue to work with Congress to stop this failed policy. “The House Financial Services Committee voted twice in back-to-back congresses to repeal the Durbin Amendment because members know this is a crony handout that has generated unearned billions for the Big Box retailers and heartburn for their customers,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of the EPC. “The Durbin price controls hurt consumers, community banks and credit unions and even small merchants. This is a bad policy, and we, the Electronic Payments Coalition, are committed to repealing it.” Since the policy took effect in 2011, the special-interest Durbin amendment has allowed merchants to collect more than $42 billion they promised to pass along to their customers. In that time, merchants have raised prices while banks and credit unions have lost revenue used to … Continue reading
The Time to Repeal Durbin is Now: New Survey Underscores Policy’s Failures
New Morning Consult survey data released today confirms the need to end the Durbin amendment, with seven in ten voters unaware of having received a discount at the register since the policy went into effect. Across party lines, voters agree that if merchants aren’t passing along savings from the law, it should be repealed. To date, big box stores have pocketed $42 billion at their customers’ expense. The new polling data found nearly 70 percent of voters say these big box retailers like Target and Walmart are looking out for their own bottom lines, not main street interests. “Time and time again, evidence shows the Durbin amendment has been a complete failure and the latest Morning Consult polling is no exception,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC). “For six years, big box retailers have broken their promises to lower costs, and consumers, small businesses, community … Continue reading
EPC Praises Congressman Ted Budd’s Floor Speech in Favor of Durbin Amendment Repeal
The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) today praised Rep. Ted Budd’s (R-NC) remarks on the House floor calling for repeal of the Durbin amendment. Rep. Budd was a retailer before his election to Congress. “Rep. Budd proved once again today that he is an individual willing to stand up for free market principles and consumers,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of EPC. “The congressman highlighted the fact that big box merchants have broken their promises, keeping nearly $42 billion in savings from the Durbin amendment that they had promised to the American people, and harming community financial institutions in the process.” The congressman’s comments are backed up by 11 studies that prove that retailers did not pass on their savings from the Durbin amendment. These studies outline the other harmful effects of the provision, including the loss of free checking accounts and the erosion of interchange revenues at credit unions and … Continue reading
EPC Applauds HFSC’s Passage of Financial CHOICE Act, Which Includes Durbin Repeal
EPC APPLAUDS HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE’S PASSAGE OF FINANCIAL CHOICE ACT, WHICH INCLUDES DURBIN REPEAL, SECTION 735 WASHINGTON (May 4, 2017) – The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) today applauded the House Financial Services Committee’s passage of the Financial CHOICE Act, which includes the repeal of the Durbin amendment, Section 735. With today’s vote, Congress is one step closer to returning to the competitive, flexible free market and providing needed relief to consumers, small merchants, community banks, and credit unions. “Today was a victory for consumers who were promised savings by retailers, but ultimately received nothing,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of EPC. “For more than six years, big box retailers have pocketed billions through the Durbin amendment with little regard for their customers, small merchants, and small financial institutions. EPC applauds the House Financial Services Committee for holding retailers accountable for their broken promises.” Due to the amendment’s price controls, … Continue reading
House Financial Services Committee Hearing Confirms Need for Durbin Repeal
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 26, 2017) –Today the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the Financial CHOICE Act and the need for reform. Expert witnesses testified that the Durbin amendment has failed and that large retailers have not passed on their cost savings to consumers as promised. Following a question from Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) on why the policy hasn’t helped consumers, Norbert Michel, research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, stated during the hearing, “The idea that we were going to get rid of a regulation for a small group of large retailers and those retailers were going to just pass those cost savings directly back to consumers is fantasy.” Since the Durbin amendment went into effect six years ago, retailers have pocketed more than $6-8 billion dollars annually from these unfair mandates. More than 6 in 10 consumers think the Durbin amendment should be repealed if merchants aren’t … Continue reading
EPC Statement on Upcoming CHOICE Act Hearing
Statement from Molly Wilkinson, executive director of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) on the House Financial Services Committee’s upcoming hearing on the Financial CHOICE Act: “This hearing is an important step toward repealing the Durbin Amendment, a damaging price control that hurts consumers and small businesses while generating windfall profits for the Big Box retailers whose lobbyists wrote it. By including a repeal in the Financial CHOICE Act, Congress can put an end to this harmful law. “The Electronic Payments Coalition thanks Chairman Jeb Hensarling and members of the House Financial Services Committee for their leadership to repeal the Durbin amendment. We look forward to hearing from expert witnesses who will recount how the law has hurt small businesses and their customers, as well as the credit unions and community banks that were supposed to be protected.” EPC submitted testimony to the House Financial Services Committee prior to the hearing stating, “The … Continue reading
EPC Applauds Continued Efforts to Repeal Durbin Amendment Price Controls
WASHINGTON (April 19, 2017)–The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) applauds Chairman Hensarling for his continued leadership to repeal the Durbin amendment and its harmful price controls. The provision for repeal in the Financial CHOICE Act 2.0 shows Congress is ready to take action on a broken promise to consumers. “Consumers, credit unions and community banks need relief from Dodd-Frank’s onerous regulations, and that starts by repealing the price controls that generated a windfall for big box retailers but failed to produce meaningful savings for their customers,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of the Electronic Payments Coalition. “It’s time to stop the handouts to big box retailers. Repealing the Durbin amendment is the right move for consumers, small businesses, and community financial institutions.” A new study from Javelin Strategy & Research found small merchants prefer value over these price controls in their interchange partnerships. The findings in this report further underscore that … Continue reading
New Javelin Report Shows Small Merchants Prefer Value over Price Controls in Interchange Partnerships
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2017)–Javelin Strategy & Research and the Electronic Payments Coalition today released a report that reveals that small merchants are more concerned about value, and less concerned about price, when it comes to the fees that they pay for debit card transactions. “This Javelin study proves once again that Chairman Hensarling and the committee were right last year when they tried to restore the free market for interchange. Small merchants want choice not price caps,” said Molly Wilkinson, executive director of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC). “Over and over we’ve seen that the Durbin amendment benefited the largest retailers while Main Street lost. These price controls have unfairly burdened consumers, community financial institutions, and small businesses. By restoring the free market, small merchants will have greater flexibility to find the debit card plan that works for them and their customers.” The study stands in stark contrast to claims … Continue reading
Voters Agree: Get Government Out of Interchange, Repeal the Durbin Amendment
WASHINGTON (February 27, 2017) – By a two-to-one margin, voters across party lines agree the Durbin amendment should be repealed, according to new survey data released by Morning Consult. The Durbin amendment—a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act—put price controls on debit interchange fees, mandated burdensome routing provisions, and ultimately created the merchant markup. Six years after the policy was implemented, American voters of all political stripes say interchange should be left to businesses, not the government. The survey showed that 58 percent of Independents, 52 percent of Republicans, and 44 percent of Democrats say the government should not be involved with setting interchange rates. The majority of all voters also think that the Durbin amendment is a price control: 60 percent of Republicans, 55 percent of Independents, and 53 percent of Democrats agree. The Durbin amendment price controls created a windfall, or merchant markup, for big box retailers of $6-$8 … Continue reading
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: New Data Shows Consumers Want Government Out of Payments
WASHINGTON (November 14, 2016) – New survey data released by Morning Consult shows that a majority of consumers support repeal of the merchant markup, also known as the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Act. Retailers have pocketed $36 billion from the Durbin Amendment, turning it into nothing more than a merchant markup that pads retailers’ bottom lines. More than five years later, consumers are saying enough is enough. More than six in ten consumers think the Durbin Amendment should be repealed if merchants are not passing the savings on to consumers. A study by the Federal Reserve confirms that merchants are not handing over the savings they receive from the Durbin Amendment. Instead they are pocketing six to eight billion dollars every year since the regulation was implemented—all of which should have been passed along to customers in the form of lower prices. By a two-to-one margin, consumers think interchange … Continue reading