Senator Jon Tester, Montana Democrat Presents a Proposal

Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat and reported to have “kicked off a flurry of lobbying from retailers and bankers when he sponsored legislation to delay the implementation of a reform on debit interchange”, presented the house with a proposal.

In the proposal, Tester’s initial plan demanded a two-year delay, as the Fed examined the impact of the 12-cent fee cap it had proposed, which he later reduced to 15 months. The current timeline is said to demands about one-year delay in implementation.

Also, the Fed already collected the information on costs presented by almost 100 large banks and credit unions, though some cost issues were no tackled in the agency’s previous report on debit interchange fees.

Following their memo, Tester’s legislation is said to require the Fed as well as other regulatory institutions, to use 6 months in studying the costs linked to debit transactions, coupled with the impact on consumers and the “small issuer exemption for financial institutions with less than $10 billion in asset”

Moreover, the proposal was reported to be presented as an amendment to the Economic Development Administration Reauthorization bill, and the Senate is expected to vote on the amendment on Wednesday.