Tech groups back away from fight on debit card fees

In the letter, the companies warned that new limits on how much banks can charge retailers for swiping their debit cards could lead banks and debit card networks to cut back on security, as cost savings would take precedent.

But now, the group says its “diverse membership” has no official take on the matter, calling itself “neutral on this issue.”

That change, of course, comes days after another group — the NAACP — issued a similar clarification. Despite saying in an earlier letter to Congress that it had concerns the limits might have a negative impact on the communities it was intended to protect, the group was explicit in a Monday letter that it was not calling for the limits to be delayed.

Rather, it simply wants the Federal Reserve, which is charged with writing rules imposing the new limit, to “swiftly review” its December proposal, which the group said was “too strict.”

That proposal would limit debit card fees to seven to 12 cents per transaction, down from the current 44-cent industry average.