JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo, and PNC Are Quietly Buying Their Way Out of Your Debit Fee Cap

• JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo and PNC held early talks to buy Fiserv’s STAR debit network, which if acquired would legally exempt them from the 2010 Durbin Amendment fee caps
• The Durbin Amendment has capped debit interchange fees for large banks since 2011 but only applies when transactions route through an outside network, owning the network removes that condition entirely
• Fiserv shares jumped 4.3% after hours on the WSJ report as the payments firm, down 70% from its 2025 highs, is seen as a motivated seller, though several banks have already pulled back over regulatory and merchant risk

Every time you swipe your debit card, a small fee flows from the merchant to your bank. Since 2011, the Durbin Amendment banks have operated under federal limits on how much they can collect from those transactions. Now, some of Wall Street’s biggest lenders are exploring a different route. Instead of lobbying Congress to change the law, they’re looking at the infrastructure that powers debit payments. This move could reshape how bank debit fees are collected.

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Why Durbin Amendment Banks Are Eyeing Fiserv’s STAR Network

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and PNC Financial Services have held preliminary discussions about acquiring Fiserv’s STAR and Accel debit networks. The talks remain early, and several banks have reportedly stepped away over concerns that a deal could invite regulatory scrutiny and merchant backlash.

At the center of those discussions is the Fiserv STAR network, one of the largest debit payment networks in the US. STAR processes transactions for more than 115 million debit cardholders across over 2,800 financial institutions. It is acting as the infrastructure that connects banks, merchants and consumers.

The interest stems from a little-known feature of the Durbin Amendment, a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The law introduced a debit card fee cap for banks with more than $10 billion in assets. This limits the interchange fees they can collect when debit transactions are routed through independent payment networks.

Owning the network changes that dynamic. Under the current legal framework, banks that control the underlying payment rails could process transactions through their own infrastructure, potentially allowing them to avoid the fee caps without changing the law itself.

Banks have argued for years that the Durbin Amendment reduced billions of dollars in annual revenue and forced them to scale back free checking accounts, fraud protection and debit rewards. Merchants and consumer groups have consistently disputed those claims. They say that lower interchange costs helped reduce expenses for retailers and ultimately benefited consumers.

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Capital One’s Discover Deal May Have Sparked Fresh Interest

The reported discussions come just months after Capital One completed its $50.6 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services. This gave the bank control of its own payment network. This deal appears to have renewed interest among large lenders looking for greater control over payment infrastructure.

A potential JPMorgan deal also arrives as Fiserv navigates a difficult period marked by slowing growth, leadership changes and pressure from activist investors. Following reports of the discussions, Fiserv shares rose about 4.3% in after-hours trading.

No agreement has been announced, and the banks involved have not confirmed any transaction. Despite this, conversations suggest that some of the country’s biggest lenders are looking beyond traditional banking. They seem to be moving toward ownership of payment networks as the next battleground in the fight over bank debit fees.

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