Sen. Richard Durbin has urged the American Bankers Association to "stand down your massive, misleading lobbying effort which is aimed at preventing the Federal Reserve from ever coming forward with reasonable final [interchange] regulations.''

In a letter to ABA President/CEO Frank Keating, Durbin (D-Ill.) said Thursday that the efforts of the banks and other opponents of his push to regulate interchange fees are not really intended to delay the implementation of the Fed's rule, which was mandated by the financial overhaul bill passed by Congress last year.

"(I)t is difficult for me to believe that your efforts to have Congress stop and study this rule are anything other than an effort to prevent regulation from ever occurring," Durbin said in his letter .