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If banks start charging fees for debit cards and checking accounts,  I could go to prepaid debit cards.

[Definition of “interchange transaction fee”]

Here are the changes added to the Durbin Amendment and it has passed.

Definition of “interchange transaction fee”

The Senate-passed amendment defined “interchange transaction fee” to include debit card fee that are established by a payment card network (e.g., Visa and MasterCard) and that accrue to either the card-issuing bank or to the network itself.   The compromise provides that the Fed cannot regulate network fees (i.e., the fees that Visa and MasterCard charge and that accrue to themselves) except to ensure that the fees are not used to circumvent interchange fee regulation.

Government administered cards

The Senate-passed amendment would regulate the interchange fees associated with debit or  prepaid cards issued by large banks on behalf of government-administered payment programs (e.g., unemployment insurance, TANF, child support).  The compromise exempts federal, state and local government program debit and prepaid cards from interchange regulation, provided that after a two-year grace period the program must ensure that prepaid cardholding beneficiaries are not charged any overdraft fees or fees for the first monthly in-network ATM withdraw 

Reloadable prepaid cards

The Senate-passed amendment would regulate the interchange fees associated with reloadable  prepaid debit cards, which are in common use by consumers who lack bank accounts.  The compromise exempts these cards from interchange regulation, provided that after a two-year grace period the issuing bank must not charge cardholders any overdraft fees or fees for the first monthly in-network ATM withdrawal. 

Fraud prevention costs
The Senate-passed amendment did not permit consideration of fraud prevention costs in the calculation of reasonable and proportional interchange rates. The compromise provides that the Fed can adjust the interchange fee rate received by a particular card-issuing bank if the bank demonstrates that the adjustment is reasonably necessary to cover fraud prevention costs incur by the bank.  In order to qualify for this adjustment, the bank would have to comply with  standards established by the Fed that would demonstrate that the bank is taking effective steps reduce fraud, and the bank would also have to show that the adjustment it seeks is limited to those reasonably necessary fraud prevention costs.   

Discounting between card networks

The Senate-passed amendment provided that card networks could no longer prevent merchants from offering customers a discount to use one card network vs. another (e.g., a discount to use Visa vs. MasterCard), and that this discount would apply in both the credit card and debit card  contexts.  This provision has been removed from the amendment.  In its place, the compromise  includes a provision directing the Fed to issue rules preventing card networks from requiring that  their debit cards can only be used on one debit card network (thereby ensuring that merchants will have the choice of at least two networks upon which to run debit transactions). 

Discounting between forms of payment

The Senate-passed amendment provided that card networks cannot prevent merchants from offering a discount for one form of payment vs. another (cash vs. check vs. credit vs. debit).  The compromise clarifies that these discounts cannot be offered if the discounts differentiate between card issuers or card networks.  The compromise further clarifies that the discount must be offered to all prospective buyers and disclosed clearly and conspicuously to the extent required by federal and applicable state law, though a network would not be permitted to penalize a merchant for a discount that is provided in compliance with federal and state law.
 
Setting of maximum/minimum transaction thresholds for use of a credit card

The Senate-passed amendment provided that card networks could not prevent merchants from setting a minimum or maximum dollar amount for payment by credit card.  The compromise provides that such a minimum may not exceed $10, with authority given to the Fed to increase that dollar amount.  The compromise also limits the ability to set maximums for payment by credit card to the Federal government and colleges and universities. 


Non-discrimination between cards issued by different banks

The compromise amendment contains a rule of construction stating that nothing shall be construed to authorize any person to discriminate between debit cards or between credit cards on the basis of the issuer who issued the card.  The Senate-passed amendment did not contain this provision.
 
Authority of the Federal Reserve Board vs. the Consumer Financial Protection Agency/Bureau

The Senate-passed amendment provided for regulatory authority under the amendment to  migrate to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency/Bureau after the CFPA/B is established.  The compromise provides that regulatory authority under the amendment shall remain with the Fed.   
 
Non-applicability to USDA nutrition assistance program EBT cards

The Senate-passed amendment was silent on the applicability of the amendment to USDA’s nutrition assistance programs in which interchange fees are not charged for electronic benefit transfer (EBT) transactions.  The compromise makes clear that nothing in the amendment shall apply to these nutrition assistance programs.   

The compromise also makes various conforming and technical changes.
   

http://www.runawayslavemovie.com/

"more brighter"? 

That's rich, insulting someone else's intelligence while using third-grade English yourself.

I know, I know, you have been appointed Grammar Czar.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.


..............read the rest of the stupidity here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/05/nasa-chief-frontier-better-relations-muslims/

For once I can agree with you...anything posted on foxnews.com is stupid.

[They are just as guilty about the piss poor state of this country, as the current administration.]

Yes yes yes, I know you want me to defend the prior administration... but I wont.

They are just as guilty about the piss poor state of this country, as the current administration.

Have you thought of quitting your job and becoming a stand up comedian?

.......wait for it, hear those obami administration tax hikes coming?

When you spend like a drunken sailor, sooner of later someone has to pick up the tab.

So who's picking up the tab from the coke snorter that was the leader of the last administration?

.......wait for it, hear those obami administration tax hikes coming?

When you spend like a drunken sailor, sooner of later someone has to pick up the tab.

Yes yes yes, I know you want me to defend the prior administration... but I wont.

They are just as guilty about the piss poor state of this country, as the current administration.

I read the one that was presented for vote, not the first draft, or the second draft.
Your a  prime example of how Democrats try and discredit anyone that tells the truth.

You should really read the correct copy.

Funny part is, the section with the requirements to qualify for services isn't in the bill at all, doesn't matter which draft you read.  It's in Title 38, and has been for decades.

You are a prime example of someone who claims to have read something in a bill that was never actually there.
 

Much like the current administration, I am being open and transparent.
Your attempt at misdirection will not change what the bill, as presented states.