Skip navigation

House Approves Financial Reform Bill

WASHINGTON -- The House on Wednesday voted to pass the reconciled financial reform bill, which includes a provision to regulate debit-card interchange fees, but a Senate vote was delayed until mid-July.

WASHINGTON -- The House on Wednesday voted to pass the reconciled financial reform bill, which includes a provision to regulate debit-card interchange fees, but a Senate vote was delayed until mid-July.

The House voted 237-192 to approve the conference report to H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which seeks to prevent the type of banking failures that occurred in 2008 but also for the first time introduces regulatory oversight of interchange fees. The Senate is not expected to vote on the bill until after it returns on July 12, according to reports.

“We applaud the House for approving this bill to bring reasonable regulation to interchange swipe fees set by the banks and credit card companies,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, president and chief executive officer, Food Marketing Institute, in a prepared statement. “This vote is incredibly important to both merchants and consumers and is the beginning of a process that will provide greater transparency in credit and debit transactions. It will give merchants the ability to more efficiently plan their operational costs for the benefit of their customers.”