Pub. 5 2016 Issue 3

associated with their debit program is limited. The lack of options and loss of control of payments for community banks mean even higher costs. Higher costs mean more community banks will be at risk of losing profits in a key component of their revenue, their debit program. These factors combine to harm consumers and to weaken community financial institutions. Now let’s bring the Durbin Amendment back into the picture, specifically the unaffiliated network requirement. This regulation provides community banks the capability to better compete by having alternatives. Without the unaffiliated net - work requirement community banks would pay more for their payment products and services. We believe interchange is an important piece of the pay - ments ecosystem and allows banks to reinvest in payments products and services for their consumers. We also believe a complete repeal of the Durbin amendment would have unin- tended negative consequences to community banks. At the end of the day, limiting the choice of debit net- works will drive up costs, limit innovation and the choice and flexibility your financial institution needs and deserves. Ultimately, the consumer pays for this lack of choice through increased prices in the same products and services (losing access to surcharge-free networks, for example). Regulations can be challenging to keep up and deal with, but when they protect fair competition and your institution’s freedom to choose what’s best for your customers and your communities, the benefits may well outweigh their burden. With more than 25 years of experience in the electronic payments industry, Terry is a member of SHAZAM’s executive manage- ment team. Terry leads the company’s business and product development, application develop- ment and IT infrastructure, corporate and IT security, vendor integration, security consul- tative services and business continuity groups.