LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: NPR's business news starts with a Senate showdown, today, over swipe fees.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: Those are the fees that stores pay banks every time a customer uses a debit card to buy something.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: The federal government is trying to lower them, but banks have been lobbying furiously against that effort, since they stand to lose billions. The Senate bill up for a vote today introduced by Jon Tester of Montana is a compromise. It would delay new rules limiting swipe fees, and possibly force regulators to rewrite them.
The federal government is trying to lower the fees that stores pay banks every time a customer uses a debit card. Banks have been lobbying furiously against the effort, since they stand to lose billions. The Senate bill up for a vote Wednesday would delay new rules limiting swipe fees, and possibly force regulators to rewrite them.