7am News, Sports and Obits
Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Durbin Proposes "Interchange" Bill
An Illinois senator has introduced legislation that would help businesses retain more of what they make.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says businesses large and small are being squeezed and consumers are paying higher prices as a result of rising interchange fees.

An interchange fee is the fee charged of the business by Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards to process the payment. Some of that money then is passed to banks that issue the cards. Approximately $50 billion in interchange fees were collected in 2008, with about 80 percent of that money going to 10 large banks.

Durbin says there are no regulations regarding interchange fees and says they often range from 1 to 3 percent of the transaction total.

"Every time you make a purchase with plastic, the bank that issued your credit card gets a cut of the sale amount," Durbin said. "American businesses and consumers are getting nickeled and dimed by the big banks, who end up making billions from these hidden fees."

Durbin says the fees must be fairly and transparently negotiated between the merchants and credit card companies that represent the banks' interests.

Durbin believes the bill will come up for a vote next week.

(Illinois Radio Network)
05 08 10 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.