Ben Sperry and Todd Zywicki on Linney’s Pizza
A recent Consumer Action for a Strong Economy webinar examined Linney’s Pizza LLC v. Board of Governors, a 6th Circuit challenge to the Federal Reserve’s debit-card interchange-fee rule that could affect banks’ ability to recover transaction-processing costs. ICLE Senior Scholar Ben Sperry and ICLE Academic Affiliate Todd Zywicki joined the panel to discuss the Durbin Amendment’s text; the economics of authorization, clearance, and settlement; and the constitutional problems posed by forcing issuers to process transactions below cost. The panel also reviewed evidence that the 2011 debit-fee cap primarily benefited large retailers while consumers paid through reduced access to free checking, fraud protection, and card rewards. Video of the full panel is embedded below.