Fed's debit-card fee rejected by U.S. judge

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-debit-card-fee-rejected-by-us-judge-2013-07-31?link=MW_latest_news

The Federal Reserve did not have the authority to set up a cap on debit-card fees, said a ruling by the U.S. district court judge in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, according to a report by Bloomberg. The ruling said the Fed did not adhere to the intent of Dodd-Frank regulations on government "swipe" fees and was not authorized to set a 21-cent cap on merchants charging for debit transactions, which has been in effect since October 1, 2011. "The Board has clearly disregarded Congress's statutory intent by inappropriately inflating all debit card transaction fees by billions of dollars and failing to provide merchants with multiple unaffiliated networks for each debit card transaction," Judge Richard Leon in the case in his ruling. Leon said the rule would remain in place pending new regulations or interim standards. The case was filed by the National Retail Federation, the Food Marketing Institute and NACS, formerly the National Association of Convenience Stores. Oil Miller Co., and Boscov's Department Store LLC also joined the complaint.