Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Debit Card Cap = Weakened Security for Cardholders says Google, Facebook Group


Google, Facebook Group Asks Delay of Debit-Card Fee Rules

(from Bloomberg on 4-12-2011)
U.S. rules capping fees charged to merchants for debit-card payments could weaken the security of electronic transactions, a group representing technology companies including Apple Inc. (AAPL), Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. (GOOG) said.   TechNet, a Washington-based group that also counts Visa Inc. (V) as a member, called on lawmakers to delay and further study rules being written by the Federal Reserve as part of the Dodd- Frank finance-regulation overhaul.  The rules on so-called swipe fees, which are set by payment networks like San Francisco-based Visa, are scheduled to be in place July 21. The group sent letters last week to U.S. senators asking them to support legislation introduced by Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, to put off the rules for two years.
“As the implementation process has moved forward, it has become clear that, while not the intent, the current proposal is creating unintended and unnecessary consequences such as a very real threat to the level of protection offered to the consumers’ personal financial data,” Rey Ramsey, the president and chief executive officer of the group, wrote in the April 6 letter. TechNet said the loss of revenue to banks and card networks could lead them to cut costs in the technology systems that protect personal financial information from fraud and identity theft.. read more»

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