Bill to delay debit card changes fails

WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate in a 54-45 vote Wednesday failed to capture the 60 votes needed to delay regulatory changes that affect debit card swipe fees.

Before the vote, bank lobbyists said the industry had at least 50 votes in the Senate, and they ended up with 54, but not enough to prevent the original debit card bill from going forward.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The bill called for four regulators to study the issue of debit card fees for six months. After that, the Federal Reserve would have had six more months to rewrite the rules.

But retail groups anticipated a victory and their prediction came out right.

The original bill that retailers backed calls for limiting swipe fees on debit card purchases to 12 cents.

Financial firms now charge retailers up to 2 percent of the purchase price for a debit card swipe, a fee that earned banks $16.9 billion in 2009.

The bill the Senate failed to delay Wednesday is expected to reduce that by 70 percent, the Post said.

The Hill newspaper said 19 Democrats and 35 Republicans voted for Tester's bill, which ended as a victory for Democratic whip Dick Durbin of Illinois.

The defeat aside, Tester earned some credentials among the banking community, with Tester raising nearly $60,000 in contributions from financial firms in a 17-day stretch while his bill was pending.

"Look at me. Do I look like a banker?" Tester said.

"The banks did not draw up this amendment," he said.