Debit card “swipe fees” were one way that banks made billions of dollars a year. These fees were paid by retailers every time you used your debit card. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Congress cut these fees significantly, to the great relief of merchants across the country. The Fed is now facing an April deadline to write the rules for the current lower fees, and banks are waging a war to try to reverse these cuts. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, explains how new rules could impact you as a consumer.
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