Swipe Fees Revisited

I hate to say I told you so but:

• With a $1.67 Average Ticket, Vending Processor USAT Predicts Pain from Durbin Rate - A vending-machine payments processor highly dependent on debit cards is bracing for a 247% increase in its average cost for accepting big-bank debit cards as a result of new Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. interchange schedules set to take effect Saturday...
• Durbin Casts a Wary Eye on Rising Small-Ticket Debit Interchange - U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin on Tuesday said he is aware that new Visa and MasterCard interchange schedules will cause some merchants to pay much more in interchange when a consumer uses a debit card from a big bank to pay for small purchases...
• New BofA Fee May Hasten Debit's Demise - Bank of America Corp., the largest bank by assets, plans to start charging its checking customers $5 per month, or $60 annually, if they use their debit cards to make purchases...
• Durbin Attacks BofA's Decision - Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., author of the debit-interchange regulation, attacked BofA's decision, charging the money-center bank is "trying to find new ways to pad their profits by sticking it to its customers."...
• National Retail Federation also denounced BofA’s Decision - The National Retail Federation also denounced BofA’s debit card fee.
• Bill Would Repeal Debit Fee Cap - ...Although the bill is expected to face resistance, Chaffetz and Owens believe it will gain momentum as consumers begin to see the consequences of the new price cap...

Oh, by the way, while I agree with most National Retail Federation stances, I believe they were dead wrong on this one. I have to imagine that someone over there is smarter than I and could have predicted side effects like these -- I guess not!  Asking the government to step in and regulate costs and fees for an industry cannot ever end well. If someone arrives on your door and says "I'm with the government and I'm here to help", RUN! But in this case, the NRF invited them in with open arms.