Durbin Amendment
A 2010 federal regulation that caps debit interchange for large bank issuers at $0.21 + 0.05%, significantly lowering the cost of accepting debit cards from regulated banks.
The Durbin Amendment, part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, directed the Federal Reserve to cap debit interchange fees charged by large issuers (banks with assets over $10 billion). The resulting cap: $0.21 + 0.05% per transaction, with a fraud adjustment of $0.01 for qualifying issuers.
Before Durbin, debit interchange was largely unregulated and often approached credit card interchange levels. The amendment cut debit processing costs substantially for merchants, particularly those with high debit card acceptance volumes.
Durbin only applies to "regulated" issuers, meaning banks with over $10 billion in assets like Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo. Debit cards from smaller community banks and credit unions ("unregulated" issuers) still carry interchange up to 0.80% + $0.15, closer to pre-Durbin levels.
The amendment also requires that debit cards be enabled on at least two unaffiliated networks, giving merchants routing choice on PIN debit transactions. PIN debit routes over networks like Star, NYCE, or Pulse rather than Visa/Mastercard, and the routing choice can meaningfully reduce costs for high-volume merchants.
If your business has high debit card acceptance (common in grocery, fuel, and QSR), Durbin-regulated cards likely represent a large portion of your volume. This makes your effective rate analysis more nuanced; your IC+ quote should reflect the actual blended interchange for your card mix.
See how your effective rate compares to what competitive IC+ pricing would cost you.
Open CalculatorMore terms to know.
You now know more than most merchants.
Find out if your processor knows you know.
Upload your statement. We'll show you every fee by name, what each one costs you annually, and what you'd pay with a competitive processor. Same day or less, free.
Get My Free Statement Audit