* Says it is unlikely to help consumers
By Dave Clarke
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's proposal to limit debit card fees would not allow card companies to cover the full cost of transactions, U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank said in an interview on CNBC. The proposal released on Thursday would generally limit debit "interchange" fees at 12 cents per transaction. The average interchange fee for all debit transactions was 44 cents in 2009, the Fed said.
"I think the way it was written, the amount the credit card companies are allowed to charge is too low," said Frank. "It does not reflect the full cost of all that you have to do if you are running a credit card operation."
