WASHINGTON - Last night several hundred credit union executivesgeared up for today's meetings with lawmakers on interchange bynibbling on hors d'oeuvres and listening to speeches from CUNAleaders.

"I am not leaving without a fight. We're here to do what'sright," CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica told the group.

Mica, who is leaving office next month, joked in an interviewthat "I thought I would spend my last weeks packing up my officeand looking at old pictures but then this came up and it is soimportant that we take our message to Congress because we wear thewhite hats."

CUNA Chairman Harriet May said "your job is to stand up for whatcredit unions stand for."

Participants said they were moved to lobby on the issue becausehigher interchange fees would hurt their bottom line.

Schools First FCU in Orange County, California planned to focuson the impact of higher interchange fees on their members andbrought five of them to Washington to make their case.

"Because of the budget crisis, our members are losing jobs orhaving their salaries cut because of furloughs. The last thing theyneed is more fees," said Shelly Berryman, the credit union'sdirector of member advocacy.

NAFCU is also bringing in members this week to make their caseas are the Independent Community Bankers of America.

But those pushing for lower interchange fees, including theNational Retail Federation, are also planning a show of grassrootssupport by bringing several hundred members to Washington, D.C.this week.

House and Senate conferees are scheduled to begin meetingtomorrow to reconcile the two regulatory overhaul bills passed bythe respective chambers.

The interchange amendment, which is in the Senate version of thebill but not the one passed by the House, authorizes the FederalReserve to ensure that debit card fees are "reasonable andproportional," in relation to processing costs. It excludes creditunions and community banks with assets of less than $10 billion. Italso allows merchants to set a minimum or maximum amount for eachtransaction and let them offer additional discounts for using acertain type of card or cash.