Mar 26, 2015

By Steven Harris, Director, Policy Development and Regulatory Compliance, Food Marketing Institute
Basketball

The Sweet 16 bracket is now set and about to start. Many fans may already have a busted bracket, but there is still plenty of great college basketball left to watch and lessons to be learned from the NCAA Tournament.

One of the best aspects of the NCAA tournament is that any school in the field of 68 has a real chance to advance.  Over the years, the tournament’s single elimination style has developed “Cinderella Story” type pursuits, such as George Mason’s 2006 run to the Final Four as an eleventh seed and last year’s Dayton Flyers’ ride to the Elite Eight, also as an eleventh seed.

These teams overcame long odds in their achievements, not unlike the merchant community’s match-up against the banks and card networks when we achieved a significant victory after the Senate adopted the “Durbin Amendment” debit card swipe fee reforms in 2010.  The banking industry juggernaut lobbied hard against the amendment’s adoption, but as the underdogs, we worked hard to gain widespread bipartisan support in a surprise 64-33 vote on May 13, 2010, an unexpected “Round 1” victory against the higher-seeded bankers.

Our early win was tested throughout the duration of the underlying legislative battle on the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, but the supermarket industry and the broader merchant community persevered and upheld the inclusion of the debit reforms despite opposition from the bill’s author.  Thanks to long hours, strong arguments and the help of our retailer coalition partners and significant support from members of the food retail industry, we were able to advance the swipe fee amendment to the President’s desk and become law, the so-called Sweet 16 of the legislative process.

FMI and our merchant partners have since fought off legislative efforts to delay and repeal the debit reforms.  We have been dealt both promising victories and frustrating setbacks throughout the implementation process with the Federal Reserve and in the courts, but we have not given up on the fight.  We remain strongly opposed to any legislation that would repeal or weaken the debit card swipe fee reforms that have benefited the American consumer and businesses, and we are working with Congress and the Federal Reserve to correct the shortcomings in the regulations.

We may continue to be the underdogs in this match-up, but the strength, expertise and widespread impact of our industry should not be underestimated.