InterchangeFees

Washington's efforts at financial reform keep having strange and unintended consequences. In response to a law that was meant to lower excessive debit card transaction fees on merchants, Visa and Mastercard found a way to raise the fees on a host of small businesses.

The Federal Reserve is preparing to issue its final rule on debit card "swipe fees" Wednesday. If the expected cut to those fees arrives, banks are likely to respond by cutting interest rates on high-yield checking accounts and squeezing profits from other banking products. DailyFinance explains what it all means to you.

It's a fee we pay every day, but it's invisible. And if Robert Johnson is correct, it's strangling the economy. For those of you who don't know what an interchange fee, a little introduction is in order. Interchange fee, meet the person reading this, whom you already know, if they have a pulse and...