Congressional Compromise Good for Visa, MasterCard

DES MOINES, Iowa - A compromise on proposed legislation that was to limit fees that  banks charge merchants for accepting debit cards will benefit major payment processors including Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., analysts said Tuesday.

The agreement requires the Federal Reserve to set limits on those fees, based on what it considers "reasonable and proportional" to the cost to banks. The agreement allows the Fed, in determining the fee amount, to consider the banks' costs of protecting against debit card fraud.  The changes would require the Fed to regulate only the fees set by banks, not by the credit card networks such as Visa and MasterCard. The bulk of the fees are imposed by banks.  THE OPINIONS: The compromise was seen by industry analysts as a big advantage for Visa and MasterCard.  "We believe that the proposal is relatively less onerous for the payment networks," wrote Jefferies & Co. analyst Richard B. Shane Jr. in a Tuesday investor note.  <<read more>>

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