I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1081 

To delay the implementation of proposed or final rules issued under the 

authority of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act relating to the reasonable and proportional fees and rules 

for electronic debit transactions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2011 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, 

Mr. RENACCI, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. 

CANSECO, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 

MCCLINTOCK, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. HERGER, Mr. 

MARCHANT, Mr. KELLY, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. KISSELL, 

Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. MCCARTHY of 

New York, Mr. POLIS, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. OWENS, and Ms. 

WOOLSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To delay the implementation of proposed or final rules issued 

under the authority of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act relating to the reasonable and proportional fees and rules for electronic 

debit transactions, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1081 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumers Payment 

3 System Protection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DELAY IN THE APPLICATION OF RULES ISSUED 

5 UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF SECTION 1075 OF 

6 THE DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM 

7 AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT. 

8 Subject to section 3(b)(2), any proposed or final rule 

9 issued under the authority of any provision under section 

10 1075 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Con11 sumer Protection Act (Public Law 111–203), or of amend12 ments made by such section, shall take effect 1 year after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT. 

15 (a) STUDY.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Governors of 

17 the Federal Reserve System, the Chairperson of the 

18 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Chair19 person of the National Credit Union Administration, 

20 and the Comptroller of the Currency shall jointly 

21 conduct a study on the effect of section 1075 of the 

22 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Pro23 tection Act (Public Law 111–203), and amendments 

24 made by such section, on consumers, card issuers, 

25 merchants, and financial institutions. Such study 

26 shall survey card issuers, merchants, and financial 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1081 IH

1 institutions representing a cross section of all mar2 ket participants regardless of whether such partici3 pants are exempt from any rule issued under the au4 thority of section 1075 of the Dodd-Frank Wall 

5 Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or of 

6 any amendment made by such section. 

7 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The study described in 

8 paragraph (1) shall consider the following: 

9 (A) The identity and categories of all costs 

10 and investments associated with debit card 

11 transactions (prior to the implementation of 

12 section 1075 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

13 Reform and Consumer Protection Act) to con14 sumers, card issuers, merchants, and financial 

15 institutions, including the operation of the pay16 ment system to support such transactions. 

17 (B) The impact of the proposed rule issued 

18 by the Board of Governors of the Federal Re19 serve System entitled ‘‘Debit Card Interchange 

20 Fees and Routing’’ (75 Fed. Reg. 81772 (Dec. 

21 28, 2010)), if finalized, including— 

22 (i) the impact of reduced debit card 

23 interchange fees on consumers, including— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1081 IH

1 (I) the cost to and consequences 

2 for consumers if such proposed rule 

3 were to become final; 

4 (II) the impact on consumer pro5 tection, including anti-fraud and cus6 tomer identification efforts, and pri7 vacy protection; and 

8 (III) the impact on consumers, 

9 particularly low- and moderate-income 

10 consumers (including banked and 

11 unbanked consumers), and small busi12 nesses with respect to the provision of 

13 payment accounts and services; 

14 (ii) the impact of reduced debit card 

15 interchange fees on debit card issuers, in16 cluding— 

17 (I) whether such fees would pro18 vide recoupment of costs and invest19 ments by debit card issuers; 

20 (II) whether such fees would re21 sult in increased risks to debit card 

22 issuers, including the potential impact 

23 on the safety and soundness of such 

24 issuers; and 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1081 IH

1 (III) the impact of the exemption 

2 provided for smaller banks and credit 

3 unions, including whether potential 

4 merchant behavior would lead to dis5 crimination against debit cards issued 

6 by credit unions and community 

7 banks, and whether the exemption 

8 would have an adverse impact on the 

9 deposit base of credit unions and com10 munity banks as well as the payment 

11 system; 

12 (iii) the impact of the reduced debit 

13 card interchange fees on merchants, in14 cluding such merchants ability to— 

15 (I) pass savings on to the con16 sumer; 

17 (II) make new capital invest18 ments; and 

19 (III) cover the costs associated 

20 with fraud prevention; 

21 (iv) the impact on consumers, debit 

22 card issuers, and merchants of the debit 

23 exclusivity and transaction routing provi24 sions of section 920(b) of the Electronic 

25 Fund Transfer Act and any proposed or 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1081 IH

1 final rules issued under such provisions, in2 cluding— 

3 (I) the impact on the continued 

4 innovation and development of secure, 

5 efficient, and reliable electronic pay6 ment technologies; and 

7 (II) the impact of mandating a 

8 specific number of enabled networks 

9 on each debit card; and 

10 (v) the impact on other entities that 

11 utilize debit card transactions, including 

12 the debit card programs of Federal and 

13 State entities. 

14 (C) Subsections (a) and (c) of section 904 

15 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 1693b(a), (c)). 

17 (b) REPORT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 8 months 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

20 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 

21 the Chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

22 Corporation, the Chairperson of the National Credit 

23 Union Administration, and the Comptroller of the 

24 Currency shall jointly submit to Congress a report 

25 that includes— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1081 IH

1 (A) an analysis of the results of the study 

2 required under subsection (a); 

3 (B) a determination of whether revisions 

4 need to be made to any proposed or final rule 

5 described in section 2; and 

6 (C) a determination of whether revisions 

7 need to be made to any provision under section 

8 1075 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 

9 and Consumer Protection Act, or any amend10 ment made by such section. 

11 (2) REVISIONS TO RULES.—The Board of Gov12 ernors of the Federal Reserve System shall have 4 

13 months after the submission of the report submitted 

14 pursuant to paragraph (1) to make revisions to any 

15 proposed or final rule described in section 2 if at 

16 least two of the Board of Governors of the Federal 

17 Reserve System, the Chairperson of the Federal De18 posit Insurance Corporation, the Chairperson of the 

19 National Credit Union Administration, and the 

20 Comptroller of the Currency determine, in such re21 port, that any one of the following are true: 

22 (A) Either of section 920 of the Electronic 

23 Fund Transfer Act or the proposed rule issued 

24 by the Board of Governors of the Federal Re25 serve System entitled ‘‘Debit Card Interchange 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1081 IH

1 Fees and Routing’’ does not encompass all costs 

2 and investments associated with debit card 

3 transactions. 

4 (B) Consumers will be adversely affected 

5 by either such section or such proposed rule. 

6 (C) The exemption of small financial insti7 tutions (defined as financial institutions with 

8 less than $10,000,000,000 in assets), as pro9 vided under section 920(a)(6) of the Electronic 

10 Fund Transfer Act, or as carried out by the 

11 proposed rule, is not effective in practice. 

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘con13 sumer’’, ‘‘financial institution’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the 

14 same meanings given such terms in section 903 of the 

15 Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693a). 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS