I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5199 
To authorize the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to 
promulgate regulations regarding interchange transaction fees and to 
amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit certain restrictions put 
in place by credit card networks. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2010 
Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System to promulgate regulations regarding interchange 
transaction fees and to amend the Truth in Lending 
Act to prohibit certain restrictions put in place by credit 
card networks. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Check Par-
ity Act of 2010’’. 
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SEC. 2. REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD OF GOV-
ERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 
FOR ELECTRONIC DEBIT TRANSACTIONS. 
(a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that electronic 
debit transactions serve as a functional replacement for 
check transactions. 
(b) RULEMAKING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall have au-
thority to promulgate rules regarding any inter-
change transaction fee that is charged with respect 
to an electronic debit transaction. 
(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—Rules promulgated by 
the Board pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be based 
on— 
(A) historic policies implemented by the 
Board that have ensured that checks clear at 
par; and 
(B) the Congressional finding under sub-
section (a) that electronic debit transactions 
serve as a functional replacement for check 
transactions. 
(c) EXEMPTIONS.—The Board may exempt financial 
institutions, including those regulated by the National 
Credit Union Administration, that, together with affili-
ates, have assets of less than $1,000,000,000 from the 
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rules promulgated by the Board pursuant to subsection 
(b). 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 
(2) ELECTRONIC
DEBIT
TRANSACTION.—The 
term ‘‘electronic debit transaction’’ means a trans-
action in which a person uses a debit card or other 
device that has been approved for use in a payment 
card network to debit an 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, charged, or received by an issuer or a 
payment card network on a per-transaction basis 
that has been established for the purpose of compen-
sating the issuer or payment card network for its 
role in authorizing, clearing, settling, or otherwise 
processing an electronic debit transaction. 
(4) ISSUER.—The term ‘‘issuer’’ means a finan-
cial institution that issues cards or other devices 
that have been approved for use in a payment card 
network. 
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(5) PAYMENT
CARD
NETWORK.—The term 
‘‘payment card network’’ means an entity that di-
rectly, or through licensed members, processors, or 
agents, provides the proprietary services, infrastruc-
ture 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 a specific brand of credit card, 
debit card, prepaid card or similar device as a form 
of payment. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CREDIT CARD NETWORK RESTRIC-
TIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 140B. Limitation on credit card network restric-
tions. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A credit card network may not, 
directly or through any agent, processor, or licensed mem-
ber of the network, by contract or otherwise, inhibit the 
ability of any person— 
‘‘(1) to set a minimum or maximum dollar 
value for such person’s acceptance of any form of 
payment; or 
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‘‘(2) to offer a discount, benefit, or anything 
else of value to customers in order to create an in-
centive for customers to pay such person using a 
form of payment that carries lower transaction fees 
or costs for such person. 
‘‘(b) CREDIT CARD NETWORK DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘credit card network’ means 
an entity that directly, or through licensed members, proc-
essors, or agents, provides the proprietary services, infra-
structure, and software that route information and data 
to facilitate transaction authorization, clearance, and set-
tlement that a person must access in order to accept a 
specific brand of general-purpose credit card as payment 
for goods or services.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 140A the 
following new item: 
‘‘140B. Limitation on credit card network restrictions’’. 
Æ 
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