WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) announced his intention to back a bill that delays implementation of debit-card fee reform, The Hill reports. Frank, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, was instrumental in passing the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation.

Recently, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the Fed would not meet the April 21 deadline to finalize the rules. Frank said in a statement that swipe fee limits needed to be looked at again in light of the Fed??s missing of the deadline.

"The Federal Reserve??s announcement that they cannot meet the deadline on interchange fees confirms my view that this is the only part of the financial reform bill that needs to be amended," said Frank. "For this reason, I support legislative action to postpone the deadline so that we can revisit it."

Earlier, Frank had indicated he would not be opposed to rewriting the Durbin amendment, which has strict limits on fees that banks can charge merchants for processing debit card transactions.

However, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said any delay would be a "serious mistake." The Fed now has until July 21 to finalize rules.

"I think that they can strike a balance and make certain these banks receive what??s reasonable and proportional, but not the overcharge that they currently have," said Durbin.

Both the Senate and the House have proposals that would push back swipe fee limits for two years at least. NACS urges members to contact their lawmakers and make their voices heard on this important issue.