For years, Sen. Dick Durbin promoted his signature debit-card regulations as a major victory for small businesses, arguing that government intervention was needed to keep large financial institutions from collecting excessive fees on everyday transactions.
Now, as Durbin prepares to leave public office, some of the nation’s biggest banks are reportedly examining a strategy that could allow them to sidestep key parts of the framework he championed.
According to reports, several major financial institutions have explored acquiring payment-processing networks that would give them greater control over how debit transactions are routed. Critics argue that such a move could undermine the very system Durbin spent more than a decade defending and potentially reshape the economics of debit-card payments across the country.
