Appeals Court Rejects Effort to Stop Debit Fee Rule
Earlier this week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal trial court decision denying TCF National Bank’s motion to preliminarily enjoin enforcement of the Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. As reported in an earlier post, in April a federal district court in South Dakota rebuffed TCF’s attempt to halt the implementation of the rule, which would limit large banks’ ability to charge debit fees to merchants. In its opinion, the Eighth Circuit expressed the view that TCF is ultimately unlikely to prevail in the suit, and that the Durbin Amendment, which distinguishes between large and small issuers of debit cards, bears a rational relationship to the government’s interest in protecting small financial institutions.
TCF continues its fight in the federal district court proceeding, and today the court will hold a scheduling conference to determine the applicable timetable.
