SMALL BUSINESSES ASK COURT TO REIN IN DEBIT CARD PROCESSING FEES

The following information was released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB):

Amicus brief challenges the legality of debit interchange fee cap

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 23, 2026) NFIB filed an amicus brief in the case Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The case involves debit card processing fees and the Federal Reserve Board's authority to include additional costs when calculating the debit interchange fee cap.

"In recent years, card payments have become the default for most Americans. Small business merchants have no choice but to accept debit cards as a form of payment in order to provide for their customers' needs," said Beth Milito, Vice President and Executive Director of NFIB's Small Business Legal Center. "The district court correctly determined that the Federal Reserve considered improper costs in setting the interchange fee amount. Small businesses are hopeful that the court of appeals agrees and rebuffs the attempt by banks to continue charging unreasonably high interchange fees."

NFIB joined the Retail Litigation Center and several other business groups in filing the brief, which argues two main points: 1) The inclusion of the prohibited costs in Regulation II's fee cap cannot be squared with the text or purpose of the Durbin Amendment; and 2) Regulation II's inclusion of additional, prohibited costs imposes unreasonable costs on merchants while allowing banks to extract unreasonable profits at the expense of retailers and consumers.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation's courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the U.S. Supreme Court.