S.Amdt. 3769

SA 3769. Mr. DURBIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3739 proposed by Mr. Reid (for Mr. Dodd (for himself and
Mrs. Lincoln)) to the bill S. 3217, to promote the financial stability
of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in
the financial system, to end ``too big to fail'', to protect the
American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive
financial services practices, and for other purposes; which was ordered
to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1077. REASONABLE FEES FOR ELECTRONIC DEBIT TRANSACTIONS.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq.)
is amended--
(1) by redesignating sections 920 and 921 as sections 921
and 922, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after section 919 the following:

``SEC. 920. REASONABLE INTERCHANGE TRANSACTION FEES FOR
ELECTRONIC DEBIT TRANSACTIONS.

``(a) Regulatory Authority.--The Board shall have authority
to establish rules, pursuant to section 553 of title 5,
United States Code, regarding any interchange transaction fee
that is charged with respect to an electronic debit
transaction.
``(b) Reasonable Fees.--The amount of any interchange
transaction fee that an issuer or payment card network may
charge with respect to an electronic debit transaction shall
be reasonable and proportional to the actual cost incurred by
the issuer or payment card network with respect to the
transaction.
``(c) Rulemaking Required.--The Board shall issue final
rules, not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of
the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, to establish
standards for assessing whether the amount of any interchange
transaction fee described in subsection (b) is reasonable and
proportional to the actual cost incurred by the issuer or
payment card network with respect to the transaction.
``(d) Considerations.--In issuing rules required by this
section, the Board shall--
``(1) consider the functional similarity between--
``(A) electronic debit transactions; and
``(B) checking transactions that are required within the
Federal Reserve bank system to clear at par;

[[Page S3041]]

``(2) distinguish between--
``(A) the actual incremental cost incurred by an issuer or
payment card network for the role of the issuer or the
payment card network in the authorization, clearance, or
settlement of a particular electronic debit transaction,
which cost shall be considered under subsection (b); and
``(B) other costs incurred by an issuer or payment card
network which are not specific to a particular electronic
debit transaction, which costs shall not be considered under
subsection (b); and
``(3) consult with the Comptroller of the Currency, the
Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, the Director of the Office of Thrift
Supervision, the National Credit Union Administration Board,
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and
the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
``(e) Exemption for Small Issuers.--This subsection shall
not apply to issuers that, together with affiliates, have
assets of less than $1,000,000,000, and the Board shall
exempt such issuers from rules issued under subsection (c).
``(f) Effective Date.--Subsection (b) shall become
effective 12 months after the date of enactment of the
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.
``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the
following definitions shall apply:
``(1) Debit card.--The term `debit card' means any card or
device issued or approved for use through a payment card
network to debit an asset account for the purpose of
transferring money between accounts or obtaining goods or
services, whether authorization is based on signature, PIN,
or other means.
``(2) Electronic debit transaction.--The term `electronic
debit transaction' means a transaction in which a person uses
a debit card or other similar device that has been approved
for use in a payment card network to debit an asset account
for the purpose of transferring money between accounts or
obtaining goods or services.
``(3) Interchange transaction fee.--The term `interchange
transaction fee' means any fee established by a payment card
network that has been established for the purpose of
compensating an issuer or payment card network for its
involvement in an electronic debit transaction.
``(4) Issuer.--The term `issuer' means a financial
institution that issues debit cards, stored-value cards,
credit cards, or other similar devices that have been
approved for use in a payment card network.
``(5) Payment card network.--The term `payment card
network' means an entity that directly, or through licensed
members, processors, or agents, provides the proprietary
services, infrastructure, and software that route information
and data to conduct transaction authorization, clearance, and
settlement, and that a person is required to access in order
to accept as a form of payment a specific brand of accepted
card, or other means of access, including a debit card,
stored-value card, credit card, or other device that may be
used to carry out debit, prepaid, or credit transactions.
``(6) Stored-value card.--The term `stored-value card'
means any card or device issued or approved for use through a
payment card network that stores funds or monetary value in
any electronic format, whether or not specially encrypted,
that is capable of being retrieved and transferred
electronically. A stored-value card includes a prepaid debit
card or any other similar device, regardless of whether the
amount of the funds or monetary value may be increased or
reloaded.''.
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