Not much, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. For those who don’t know … interchange fees are the fees paid by merchants to banks on debit card charges. The Dodd-Franks Act of 2010 was supposed to scale back these fees to provide relief to merchants. Now, one of the authors of the legislation, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Ma), says that no action should be taken until the matter is studied further.

Currently, merchants pay as much as $1 or more every time a customer swipes a debit card to make a purchase (these fees do not apply to credit card purchases). The Federal Reserve proposed a rule in December 2010 that would limit the fees to 12¢ per swipe; it accepted public comment into February of this year and had anticipated making the rule permanent on July 21, 2011.

The legislation was supposed to protect small merchants. However, some  large banks have been vocal in their opposition to the proposed limit on swipe fees. According to CNNMoney.com, Bank of America estimated that any fee cap would cost it $1.8 billion to $2.3 billion from its annual revenue.

In mid-March of this year, a bi-partisan group of senators introduced a new bill called the Debit Interchange Fee Study Act (S. 575), which would delay implementation of the 12¢ rule (or any other change to swipe fees) for two years. Companion legislation (H.R. 1081) has been introduced in the House.

Even some small business groups agree with the proposed legislation. Ray Keating, Chief Economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, opposes any government regulation of fees, believing that the marketplace — not government — should set prices.

Who is right? The merchants who complained enough to get protection added to the Dodd-Franks law? Financial institutions benefiting from swipe fees? Voices who oppose government regulation in general? You decide; it’s not an easy call.