US Senators Propose Raising Durbin Amendment Asset Threshold to Ease Burden on Community Banks

The Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law on July 21, 2010, included the Durbin Amendment, which authorized the Federal Reserve to cap debit-card interchange fees for banks with at least $10 billion in assets. The cap is currently about 22 cents per transaction. About 80 banks exceeded the threshold at the time, compared with roughly 130 today, as inflation and consolidation have brought more institutions under the fixed cutoff.

On February 12, 2026, US Senators Ted Cruz and Katie Britt introduced S. 3849, the Community Bank Relief Act, which would initially raise the $10 billion threshold and then adjust it annually based on the Consumer Price Index. US Representative Andy Barr introduced companion legislation, H.R. 7484, in the House. The bills would not change the interchange-fee cap, focusing instead on allowing more community banks to retain their exemption.