FRB seeks comments on maximum interchange fee that a large debit card issuer can receive for a debit card transaction

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday requested comment on a proposal to lower the maximum interchange fee that a large debit card issuer can receive for a debit card transaction. The proposal would also establish a regular process for updating the maximum amount every other year going forward.

By law, the Board is required to establish standards for assessing whether an interchange fee received by a large debit card issuer for processing a transaction is reasonable and proportional to certain issuer costs. The Board first implemented this statutory requirement in 2011, setting an interchange fee cap for debit card issuers with $10 billion or more in assets. The proposal would adjust the interchange fee cap to reflect changes in issuer costs since the rule first took effect. For example, the cap on an average-sized $50 debit card transaction would decline from 24.5 cents under the current rule to 17.7 cents under the proposal. In addition, the proposal would adopt an approach for future adjustments to the interchange fee cap, which would occur every other year based on issuer cost data gathered by the Board from large debit card issuers.

The Board today also approved the release of the latest biennial report detailing data collected from large debit card issuers on interchange fees, issuer costs, and fraud related to debit card transactions in 2021.

The comment period will close 90 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.

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Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. agreed to lower and cap credit-card interchange rates as part of a landmark settlement with U.S. merchants that follows almost two decades of litigation, the parties said Tuesday.

Through the blockbuster agreement, which merchants say is one of the largest in U.S. antitrust history, Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) will lower published credit-card interchange fees by four basis points in the U.S. for at least three years. The companies also won't raise interchange fees for five years above the rates that were in place at the end of 2023.

While the interchange concessions run behind the scenes, the companies also agreed to changes that could be more visible to consumers. For example, they've simplified rules around surcharging and established new policies around "steering," through which merchants could incentivize shoppers to use particular cards.
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