July 8, 2021
ACTION REQUESTED: Comments to Federal Reserve on Debit Transaction Routing and Regulated Debit Rate
RAM members are urged to take action now by contacting the Federal Reserve Board and requesting their support in providing your businesses with relief from the high cost of accepting debit card payments.
Recently, the Federal Reserve Board issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to clarify that Regulation II, and the Durbin Amendment, require that a merchant be provided a choice between two competing debit networks for all debit transactions, whether card-present or card-not-present. Clarification and enforcement of these debit routing provisions on card-not-present transactions will ensure businesses enjoy access to the same cost-saving benefits of competitive routing currently utilized for in-store transactions, when accepting debit payments online and in mobile transactions.
In addition to requesting the Federal Reserve Board's support of this clarification, members should also take this opportunity to request that the Federal Reserve Board consider lowering the current debit interchange rate to reflect both the reduction in issuer costs and fraud losses, as reported in their biannual survey.
Please use the NRF Grassroots Action Page to assist you with your communication. If retailers do not file comments on behalf of their businesses, the banks will overwhelm the Federal Register docket with comments of their own urging the Federal Reserve to not take this action. The result will be higher costs and less competition for merchants when it comes to payment processing.
All comments are due by August 11, 2021!
Additional Resource: RF Webinar on Fed Reserve Payments Rulemaking – Learn more about why these issues are important to your business.
Sales Tax Holiday Weekend Set for
August 14 & 15, 2021
For information on this year’s Sales Tax Holiday weekend, to be held on August 14 and 15, 2021, members are encouraged to review the following:
Sales Tax Holiday Regulation: 830 CMR 64H.1.8: Sales Tax Holiday
FAQ’s: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/sales-tax-holiday-frequently-asked-questions
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