Today is the day. October 1, 2011 the changes brought on by the Durbin Amendment take effect. The Official Host Merchant Services Blog has been running its Countdown to Durbin series leading up to today. We end our series with one last gallop through the media coverage of the law.
Durbin Amendment Costs People Their Job
The most attention grabbing link we found on the day of Durbin taking effect was this article from Credit Newsline, stating the Durbin Amendment forced a Texas bank to close branches and lay people off. The article stated:
“The Laredo, Texas-based International Bancshares Corp. announced on Friday that it will shutter 55 grocery store branches and lay off approximately 500 people in response to the Durbin Amendment, which will cap what banks can charge merchants for debit card transactions.
“Government many times passes regulations that end up hurting the very people they were intended to help,” International Bancshares Corp. chairman and CEO Dennis Nixon said. “This appears to be one of those cases.
Nixon said that the $11.8 billion International Bancshares will close the grocery store branches so that it can continue offering free checking to its customers following the new interchange legislation, which takes effect on Oct. 1. The company said that it relied on revenue from debit card fees to cover the cost of free products and services for consumers and is shutting the branches to offset the loss of revenue.”
The last bit we’ll leave you with comes from Fox Business Network, and it’s a save the date tidbit on October 1:
“The significance of Oct. 1 is not limited to the world of plastic cards. Thomas Edison opened the first electric lamp factory on this date in 1880. Yellowstone and Yosemite National Park, in 1890, were established by the U.S. Congress. And on October 1, 1992, the Cartoon Network launched. In any case, you and your local store owners may not look at your debit card, or your credit card, in quite the same way again.”
Remember to read Host Merchant Services’ extensive analysis of the Durbin Amendment here. And we’ll be back to regular blog reporting on Monday but will most likely have more information related to the Durbin Amendment going forward as the banking industry is just getting started with its plans to react to this law and the changes it brings.
