Part of the Wall Street reform bill being debated by Congress includes regulations on how much credit card companies can charge businesses for "interchange fees."
According to an article by The Chicago Sun Times, each time a customer pays by credit card instead of cash, it costs the store owner 1-3 percent more than a cash transaction.
Senator Dick Durbin plans to introduce the amendment this week. He says even with consumers switching to debit cards instead of credit cards, which cost the banks less money to service, banks have continued raising interchange rates. The amendment could regulate how much banks charge businesses, similar to how the credit card reform bill enabled regulators to see that banks did not overcharge consumers.
