oped
Interchange Latino
BY MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO,
FORMER NYC COUNCIL
SPEAKER
In 2011, Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-IL) successfully passed
an amendment to the Dodd-
Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection
Act intended to benefi t everyday
Americans. The amendment
sought to cap debit card
interchange fees. These are
fees that fund the entire electronic
payment system in the
U.S., including fraud prevention
and detection, consumer
rewards, and the risk of credit
loss. Durbin passed his amendment
in a bid to save money for
retailers so they could lower
prices for customers. In reality,
big retailers like Walmart,
Target and Amazon pocketed
billions in revenue but failed
to actually lower prices for
customers. Even worse, the
change actually doubled fees
on smaller transactions for
main street stores.
Now, these massive corporations
have their DC lobbyists
asking for another huge
payout by capping credit card
interchange fees. Not only
would this hurt consumers
and small businesses, but it
would have an especially negative
impact on the Latino
community.
As we have already seen
with the cap on debit card interchange
fees, when DC directly
cuts bank revenue and
forces banks to lose billions,
consumers are ultimately
the ones who suffer. After the
Durbin Amendment caused
issuers to lose more than $90
billion in revenue over the
past decade, they responded
with monthly account maintenance
charges, insuffi cientfunds
fees, inactivity fees,
and the virtual elimination of
debit card rewards programs.
A University of Chicago report
found that instead of saving
money, the Durbin rule
indirectly cost consumers
between $22 and $25 billion.
To make things even worse,
a 2014 study from George Mason
University reported that
it led to an increase in the unbanked
population by one million
Americans.
Unfortunately, the people
getting shut out are often lowincome
families, the Latino
community, and other people
of color living in areas where
banking access is already limited.
Reuters reports that there
are about 41 fi nancial institutions
for every 100,000 people
in predominantly white areas,
but only 27 in non-white
majority communities. With
the COVID-19 pandemic doubling
online commerce, access
to credit cards and banking
is crucial.
The Latino Coalition, a
national group of Hispanic
business owners, found that
regulating interchange fees
inevitably leads to higher
credit card costs and reduced
benefi ts for consumers. Particularly
in communities of
color, many low-income people
rely on services like free
checking accounts and lower
fees to keep their bank accounts
open. If we extend
these interchange regulations
to credit cards, we will be taking
away benefi ts and accessible
credit from the communities
that need them most.
As many as seven million
Latino consumers could lose
credit access if DC lobbyists
and Durbin are once again
successful, according to an estimate
based on data from the
Federal Reserve.
The impact of the Durbin
amendment has also been detrimental
to our nation’s small
businesses. Banks started
charging the full 22 cent cap
set by Durbin’s amendment
for every single transaction,
including the smaller transactions
that many small businesses
rely on. In 2013, the
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
reported that some
small-ticket interchange fees
doubled or tripled from what
small retailers previously
paid. The Latino Coalition
reports that more than 2 million
Hispanic small business
owners use credit and debit
cards as an essential part of
their business operations and
shifting credit card costs onto
these businesses will be detrimental.
Extending Durbin’s amendment
to credit cards is the
wrong decision for consumers,
small businesses, and the
Latino community. We need to
keep credit cards accessible
for all consumers and reduce
fi nancial burdens for small
businesses, not for wealthy
corporations.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PR. 23-29, 2021 13
Dear Letters Editor,
“Celebrate Earth Day April
in the Bronx” (Alex Mitchell
— April 16) all year long. Besides
recycling newspapers,
magazines, glass, plastics, old
medicines, paints and cleaning
materials, there are other actions
you can take which will
also contribute to a cleaner
environment. Leave your
car at home. For local trips
in the neighborhood, walk
or ride a bike. For longer
travels, as more people are
vaccinated from COVID-19,
consider many public transportation
alternatives already
available. MTA NYC
Transit subway, bus and
Staten Island Railway, MTA
Bus, Metro North Rail Road,
Westchester Bee Line Bus
along with other private transportation
owners offer various
options, such as local and
express bus, ferry, jitney, subway
and commuter rail services.
Most of these systems
are funded with your tax dollars.
They use less fuel and
move far more people than
cars. In many cases, your employer
can offer transit checks
to help subsidize a portion of
the costs. Utilize your investments
and reap the benefi ts.
You’ll be supporting a cleaner
environment and be less
stressed upon arrival at your
fi nal destination.
Many employers continue
to allow employees to telecommute
and work from home
full and part time. Others use
alternative work schedules,
which afford staff the ability
to avoid rush hour gridlock.
This saves travel time and
can improve mileage per gallon.
You could join a car or
van pool to share the costs of
commuting.
Use a hand powered lawn
mower instead of a gasoline
or electric one. Rake your
leaves instead of using gasoline
powered leaf blowers.
The amount of pollution created
by gasoline powered
lawn mowers or leaf blowers
will surprise you.
A cleaner environment
starts with everyone.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
Photo courtesy of NYC Council
correction
BY HAZEL SHAHGHOLI,
EDITOR IN CHIEF
The Bronx Times would
like to extend its sincere apologies
for the cover error in our
last edition that stated a Pelham
Bay Park monument was
erected in honor of those that
fought in WWII. The monument
in question was actually
a tribute to those who fought
in WWI. The Bronx Times has
a deep respect for our troops,
both past and present, and
deeply regrets this error.
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