RILA: Celebrating President Obama's signing of swipe-fee reform legislation

Arlington, Va. The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement from RILA president Sandy Kennedy following the bill-signing ceremony on Wednesday at the White House. Earlier today, President Obama signed into law legislation that contains meaningful swipe-fee reforms that will bring relief to consumers and merchants who currently face excessive swipe fees imposed by credit-card companies and big banks.

"Today is a great day for retailers who have fought for years to bring fairness and transparency to a broken system,” said Kennedy. "The swipe-fee reforms signed into law today by President Obama will benefit America's retailers, small and large, and their customers by reining in the excessive debit swipe fees imposed by credit-card companies and big banks.

"We applaud leaders in Congress, specifically Senator Durbin and Representatives Welch and Shuster for standing up for America's retailers and consumers and we look forward to working with the Federal Reserve to ensure that the goals of reform are preserved as the rulemaking process moves forward."

The swipe-fee reform language included in the Dodd Frank Financial Reform Conference Report was based on an amendment introduced by Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and passed by the Senate in a broad bipartisan vote on May 13. Representatives Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) were instrumental to consideration of swipe-fee reform in the U.S. House of Representatives.