News

Retailers ready to go one more round in debit card fee fight

June 3, 2014

Merchants aren’t ready to throw in the towel quite yet. On Monday, the National Association of Convenience Stores and the National Retail Federation announced that they will petition the Supreme Court to hear their case against the Federal Reserve.

The announcement means that the financial services industry's uncertainty about the implementation of debit card routing requirements will persist for a few more months, at minimum — and possibly for another year or more.

Retailers won round one of the contest last July when Judge Richard Leon ruled that the Fed had disregarded Congress’ intent with Dodd-Frank legislation, setting interchange limits too high, and the number of required routing options too low.

In March, an appeals court overturned the Leon decision, stripping retailers of their victory. Now the plaintiffs have affirmed that they will fight on.

Merchants have until June 19 to prepare their petition to the Surpreme Court. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that the group has asked for a deadline extension to July 21.

At this point, then, several questions remain in the ongoing battle:

• Will the Supreme Court grant an extension for the merchants’ petition?
• Will the court grant the retailers’ petition, and if so, which way will the court rule?
• When will the industry finally get a firm answer on EMV routing?