With Congress in an “undo Obama policy” mode, timing is perfect for business owners (franchised or not) to contact Representatives in Congress and urge them to support the Financial Choice Act of 2017 – but ONLY if the Durbin Amendment is left intact. This issue involves the debit swipe fee reform that was secured back in 2010. A quick summary: the Durbin Amendment, which helped regulate the relationship between big banks, VISA and MasterCard, was passed as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “Durbin” dropped the cap on swipe/interchange fees from an average of 40 cents to 21 cents per transaction (plus .05 percent of the sales amount). Now, the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10), approved by the House Financial Services Committee earlier this session, repeals the “Durbin Amendment” and is likely to come before the full House for a vote within the next several weeks. The big banks and credit card companies support the repeal of “Durbin” which will remove the current cap and clear the path for astronomical charges to merchants when customers use a debit card. Contact your Representative today and urge them to ONLY support the Financial Choice Act if “Durbin” is left intact!