Content about US Federal Reserve

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation is responding to a report from the Federal Reserve that revealed that debit card swipe fees collected by the nation's largest banks have dropped significantly since reform regulations took effect last fall.

MCHENRY, Ill. — A product exclusively designed for breast-fed babies has made its U.S. debut.

NEW YORK — A coalition of retail organizations, including the National Retail Federation, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Association of Convenience Stores, have filed a lawsuit charging that the Federal Reserve failed to comply with a new law requiring it to reduce fees bank charge retailers when shoppers use credit cards.

The law, which went into effect Oct. 1, said that banks could charge a maximum of 21 cents when consumers use a debit card, down from an average of 44 cents per transaction.

WASHINGTON — Retailers and their customers will save billions of dollars when new Federal Reserve regulations cutting debit card swipe fees roughly in half take effect this weekend, the National Retail Federation said.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation said last week that it was disappointed in the final debit card swipe-fee regulations set by the Federal Reserve.

Under the new rule, the current debit card swipe-fee rate of 1% to 2% of each transaction will be replaced with a flat fee of not more than 21 cents per transaction for the nation’s largest banks — substantially higher than the flat fee of up to 12 cents the Federal Reserve originally proposed in December 2010.

WASHINGTON — The retail industry won a big victory in Washington, D.C., as the Senate defeated an amendment that proposed to delay swipe-fee reform for another 12 months.

PITTSBURGH — Though more than 7-in-10 drugs dispensed in the United States today are generics, and the Food and Drug Administration holds generics to the same standards as branded drugs, misgivings among the general public still exist, fed by the occasional media report of patients experiencing bad side effects after taking certain generic drugs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association on Tuesday urged Congress to permit the Federal Reserve Board to expedite the implementation of an amendment to the financial-reform legislation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that would limit the fees charged to retail merchants on debit card transactions (known as “swipe fees”) to a level that is “reasonable and proportionate” to the costs incurred by the banks and credit card associations to process these transactions.

It's as if they have some special vision — some special lens that reveals secrets about the customer and how she shops. Some retailers see things that the rest of us don't. Or, as one supplier told Drug Store News, "It's like they think in 3D." DSN profiles 10 visionary retailers and how their vision has fed new merchandising and marketing concepts that represent the best thinking in drug store retailing today. Click below to download the PDF of Visionary Retailers.