Bills before each house of Congress entitled The Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009 have serious implications for commercial cards, the banks that issue them, the merchants that accept them, and the corporates and small businesses that use them.
The commercial card industry is not as large as the consumer credit card industry but has better growth prospects, so the stakes are higher and the prospects for disruptive legislation and regulation quite menacing.
Passage of either the Conyers or the Durbin bill in its present form will certainly slow commercial card growth and possibly cause card-issuing banks to lose income.
Similar bills proposed in 2008 by the same legislators did not pass, but the impact of the current economic crisis has convinced legislators that constituents could construe their unwillingness to act as lack of concern.
A study by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) and some other factors may head off passage of the bills.
(0 items)
