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EPC pushes for repeal of Durbin Amendment, passage of Data Security Act

October 4, 2016

Five years after the implementation of the Durbin Amendment, the Electronic Payments Coalition is pressing Congress to repeal the controversial legislation.

"The numbers don't lie," EPC Executive Director Molly Wilkinson said in a press release. "The Durbin Amendment has been a complete failure for everyone except the big box stores, who have padded their bottom lines to the tune of $6–$8 billion dollars each year. Once consumers find out retailers aren't keeping their word and passing on savings through lower prices, a majority of consumers support repealing the Durbin Amendment, making it imperative Congress supports efforts to end this amendment."

According to the release, the legislation also harms community banks and credit unions that face higher costs to comply with the provisions of the amendment and have seen a substantial drop in interchange revenue as its result.

Additionally, the EPC argued, consumers would be better served by the implementation of strong data security standards designed to safeguard their personal and financial data.

"Banks and financial institutions comply with the requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act because they are vested in protecting their customers' information and helping financial breaches to decline," Wilkinson said. "The same effort should be required of others that handle sensitive customer data. As the number of retail breaches continues to grow, there needs to be similar standards on the retail side."

Independent research conducted on behalf of the EPC has found that six percent of consumers trust stores and retailers to develop new payment technologies, while 75 percent trust banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions to do so.

The EPC release said that 90 percent of consumers support H.R. 2205, the Data Security Act of 2015, which calls for strong national data security standards and would hold retailers to standards similar to those required of financial institutions.