SAN ANTONIO - MasterCard Worldwide is still studying whether andhow to put into place a two-tier interchange schedule to accordwith coming debit cap regulations, according to an executive withthe card brand.

Chris McWilton, president of U.S. Markets for MasterCard, toldexecutives at the PSCU Financial Services’ 2011 Senior LeadershipWorkshop & Member Forum today that the card processingcompany was still evaluating whether to put that option intoplace.

McWilton noted that even if the card brand does that, there isno guarantee in the law that merchants will not discriminateagainst card issuers in the higher-interchange tier.

He also said that Americans were turning to the use of creditand credited the industry with helping the American economy torecover even if a few card issuers had used deceptive practicesagainst consumers. It is the bulk of U.S. consumers that use creditresponsibly who will continue to help fuel the recovery, McWiltonadded.

He also urged more credit unions to adapt their website to bringmore value to their members’ management of their money throughpayments and other transactions. People who use their banks orcredit union websites have been found to be significantly morelikely to move to different financial institutions, he said.

Other levels of management control might include the ability toset debit and credit card spending limits and parameters so, forexample, that a child’s debit card can be limited to buying onlycertain items.

Innovations of this type, McWilton said, will help members keepfinding their credit unions useful and a key part of theirfinancial management strategy.