The measure from Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, would force credit card companies to charge businesses less for debit card transactions than for those of credit cards.
Under current practice, a business that accepts major credit cards signs agreements with the card companies to pay a percentage of each transaction, usually about 2 to 3 percent. But credit card charges cost more to process than swipes with a debit card. The change would represent the most direct and tangible consumer benefit of the regulatory overhaul and would amount to a triumph for Durbin, who failed to get a similar proposal attached to an overhaul of credit card regulations last year.
The issue pitted the politically popular appeals of small business owners against the influence of community banks and the lobbying power of the credit card companies.
Durbin’s measure requires that once merchants can pay lower fees for debit card purchases, they then would be able to offer discounts to their customers based on their method of payment.
“To bring competition to credit cards is going to help these businesses and ultimately help consumers,’’ Durbin said.
“This is an issue that is not just a Main Street small-business issue, this is an issue that affects in our industry 160 million consumers a day,’’ said Henry Armour, chief executive of the National Association of Convenience Stores, which support the proposal.
In addition to the vote on the credit card issue, senators supported:
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