Fees paid by retailers to banks for debit card purchases, a $20 billion annual expense that has been the subject of a political battle over the last year, will be cut in half after the Federal Reserve voted yesterday to cap the charges, The New York Times reported.

The cap was mandated last year by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The new cap of 21 to 24 cents per transaction, down from an average of 44 cents before the law passed, is roughly double the 12 cents tentatively proposed by the Fed last December.

To read a pair of related articles in the July 24 Business Record, click here and here.