Wednesday, November 2, 2011



RILA Comments on Bank of America Announcement to Abandon Debit Fee Charge

Arlington, VA - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following
statement in response to Bank of America’s decision to abandon its plan to
charge new fees on debit card users.

“Today’s news is proof-positive that consumers remain swipe fee reforms biggest
winners. Bank of America and its big bank peers are no longer free to
fleece merchants and consumers at will. This outcome is just what
consumers deserve, what reform advocates predicted and what we will
fight to extend to the credit card market,” said Katherine Lugar, executive
vice president of public affairs. 

The action by Bank of America follows decisions by competitors to drop customer trials of
the new fees. SunTrust Banks Inc. and Regions Financial Corp. also said they
will stop charging customers for debit-card transactions.

RILA has continued to lead the efforts to reform debit card swipe fees, which was signed
into law in July 2010, to rein in out of control fees imposed on merchants
and customers by Visa, MasterCard and the big banks. These fees, which
are centrally set by Visa and MasterCard, have exploded in recent years and
cost merchants nearly $20 billion each year and translate to higher
prices for shoppers. 
RILA is the trade association of the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies.
RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers,
and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in
annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000
stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and
abroad.



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