Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, principal sponsor of the debit interchange amendment bearing his name, defended that amendment in a Jan. 18 letter to Illinois bank and CU trade associations.
"Visa's recent announcement confirms what I have consistently argued: that small banks and credit unions will not be hurt from this regulation and will in fact see benefits from it," Durbin said in his letter to the Illinois Bankers Association, Illinois Credit Union League and the Community Bankers of Illinois.
"It is likely that some Washington-based trade associations will continue to use scare tactics and misrepresentations to argue against interchange reform," he wrote. "These associations have expended so much time and money lobbying against reform over the past year that unfortunately I do not expect them to ever reconsider their position."
