Payments/Credit/Debit

House and Senate conferees will tackle the issues of greatest interest to credit unions in the financial overhaul when they meet later today.

The Federal Reserve would still have the power to regulate interchange fees though credit unions and banks with assets of $10 billion or less would be exempt and retailers would be expressly forbidden from discriminating among card types.

NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker said he and his organization are "greatly disappointed," by the House's proposal on interchange fees that keeps most of the language in the Senate-passed amendment.

The Filene Research Institute has picked up a new supporter.

A coalition of public interest groups and think tanks generally regarded as conservative has come out with a statement urging Congress to reject the so-called Durbin Amendment that would regulate debit card interchange.

Calling it a "special case situation," Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin said he would work to find a way to exempt state government-issued debit cards used to distribute benefits from his amendments.