Free Republic

The law of unintended consequenes accompanies every piece of legislation passed by congress. Conservatives recognize this fact of life; liberals don't. That's how we get 3000 page health insurance "reform" bills and gigantic headaches like Dodd-Frank; a measure designed to "protect" consumers but whose unintended consequences will make credit harder to get for most, and cost consumers more in the long run. The "Durbin fee" on debit cards is one such unintended consequence: Durbin pitched his amendment, which empowered federal bureaucrats to fix the fees banks can charge merchants for each debit card transaction at 24 cents, as a blow...

Another triumph of the politicized economy. Price controls are one of the most persistent and dangerous delusions of liberal and populist economics. If something is “too expensive,” why, the government will just pass a law to make it cheaper! The inevitable result is greater expense to the consumer, as quality declines, supplies dry up, and those who formerly set competitive prices within a market-based system find other ways to get paid. Such is the case with bank interchange fees: the small per-transaction charges banks assess for processing debit card purchases. These charges are normally absorbed by retailers, and invisible to...

Author of Durbin amendment doesnt like a bank reacting to the negative effect of his amendment. “Bank of America customers, vote with your feet, get the heck out of that bank,” Durbin said on the Senate floor.

Dick Durbin urges customers to leave Bank of America By: Seung Min Kim October 3, 2011 04:26 PM EDT Angry about Bank of America’s new $5 monthly fee for using your debit card? Dick Durbin has some advice for you: Take your money elsewhere. “Bank of America customers, vote with your feet,” the Senate majority whip said in a floor speech Monday. “Get the heck out of that bank. Find yourself a bank or credit union that won’t gouge you for $5 a month and still will give you a debit card that you can use every single day. “What...

Hold on to your wallet: The Durbin Amendment goes into effect Saturday. The once-obscure amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill limits “interchange fees,” which banks charge to merchants for providing the service that allows stores to accept debit-card payments. The fees were cut by some 80 percent, which makes it less profitable for banks to offer debit-card services. So the banks have done the natural thing and begun to transfer the fee from merchants to their customers, with Bank of America announcing a new $5-per-month fee for debit-card users. Naturally, the amendment’s author, Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) is in...

<p>NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is joining a growing number of banks that are introducing or testing a monthly fee for debit cards, casting around for revenue lost to debit-card regulatory restrictions.</p> <p>Wells Fargo, the nation's second-largest bank by deposits, will charge a $3 fee for debit and automated-teller-machine cards as of Oct. 14 in several states if such cards are used for purchases (but not for ATM usage). The bank said it is a pilot program, and it will monitor how people respond.</p>