House to Wait for Senate to Act on "Swipe" Changes, Bachus Says

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said that U.S. House lawmakers will wait for the Senate to introduce changes to the Federal Reserve's proposal that would cap debit card "swipe" fees, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The House panel's decision to wait for action by the Democrat-controlled Senate may delay the legislative attack on a rule that may cost banks including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as much as $12 billion in annual revenue. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), who fought to require fee caps under the Dodd-Frank Act, said that he will block efforts to change that provision of the regulatory law. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair have questioned the measure, saying that an exemption for banks and credit unions with less than $10 billion in assets might have the unintended consequences of making the smaller firms less competitive.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-03-07/house-to-wait-for-senate-to-act-on-swipe-changes-bachus-says.html