Capping debit interchange fees, sometimes called swipe fees, would help merchants by replacing the current system, in which they generally pay between 1 percent and 2 percent of the dollar value of each transaction.

The Federal Reserved said consumers would not likely see a swipe fee cap translate into lower prices, except in some highly competitive markets. It may, however, result in banks cutting back on debit card reward programs or searching for other ways to offset the impact of lower fees.

American Express Co. however, said it will fight against the federal lawsuit, arguing that the Justice Department’s proposed remedy would promote steering customers from one payment network to another and “will do nothing to enhance competition.”

The department of Justice and various state attorneys general sued all three companies, saying they were attempting to insulate themselves from competition.

At the same time, the Justice Department filed a settlement it has reached with Visa and MasterCard. Court approval of such settlements is usually a formality. Under the settlement, Visa and MasterCard agree not to prohibit merchants from offering customers discounts or rebates for using a particular kind of card. Visa and MasterCard also must allow merchants to express preferences for the use of a low-cost card within a network or other form of payment.

The lawsuit says the card companies are impeding merchants from promoting the use of competing credit or charge cards with lower acceptance fees.

Each time consumers use a credit card to make a purchase, the merchant must pay a fee. Such fees brought in $35 billion last year to the three credit card companies and their affiliated banks.

Based on a 1,000-point scale, AmEx received a customer satisfaction rating of 769, which was 55 points higher than the industry average, according to a survey conducted in March and April by information services provider J.D. Power and Associates.

Discover Card was the second highest rated credit card, with a score of 757. The bottom three cards were Capital One, Citi Cards, and HSBC, in last place.

1. Request a credit line increase. The one factor of your credit score you have the most control over is credit utilization. Credit utilization is simply a calculation of how much of your credit you are currently using. A simple total balance owed divided by total credit limit. So, you can either decrease the total balance owed or increase the total credit limit.

2. Pay off Debt. This is really a no brainer but the best option after you have already increase your credit card limit.

3. Charge Less. By keeping your statement balances lower, you lower your credit utilization without much effort.

4. Consolidate Credit Cards. If you have multiple credit cards with one issuer, consider consolidating them.

5. Review your credit report for errors and omissions.

These are the five easiest ways to help increase your credit score. I hope it helps.

Overall credit dropped 0.7 percent in June. It was the smallest decline since credit increased 1.8 percent in January, the only rise since the beginning of 2009. The decrease left consumer credit at an annual rate of $2.42 trillion.

That brings the total US Bank failure number to 78 this year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the Florida banks, all owned by holding company Bank of Florida Corp. They are Bank of Florida-Southeast, based in Fort Lauderdale, with $595.3 million in assets; Bank of Florida-Southwest, based in Naples, with $640.9 million in assets; and Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay, based in Tampa, with $245.2 million in assets.

The FDIC also seized Las Vegas-based Sun West Bank, with $360.7 million in assets, and Granite Community Bank, located in Granite Bay, Calif., with $102.9 million in assets.

The number of banks on the FDIC’s confidential “problem” list jumped to 775 in the first quarter from 702 three months earlier, even as the industry as a whole had its best quarter in two years.

The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years.

For the most part, we never seen the direct impact of interchange fees. The agreements that merchants enter with Visa and MasterCard don’t allow them to tack on interchange fees as a surcharge to customers, and although offering a discount for cash is permitted, cash discounts haven’t really caught on outside of gas stations.

Therefore because we never really see a direct impact on the interchange fees, we may never see any direct benefit from all the proposed legislation that attempt to limit such fees.

Some argue that by reducing their interchange fee expenses, retailers will be able to pass on savings through lower prices. But given how the charges were hidden from consumers in the first place, struggling businesses are more likely to keep the savings to boost profits or cut losses rather than passing them on.

In fact, if legislation is passed to limit credit card interchange fees, then some consumers could end up being worse off. Interchange fees help provide funding for the credit card rewards that so many people get from their cards. Yet as we’ve already seen during the financial crisis, falling bank profits have started eating away at issuers’ willingness to continue rewards programs. With another source of revenue under attack, it’s even more likely that customers will face annual fees and other direct costs to offset lost interchange fee income.

Senator Richard Durbin stated, “If your companies were to coordinate such punitive actions in the same way that you appear to have coordinated your messaging tactics, serious concerns would be raised that you are engaging in an unlawful restraint of trade,” in a letter to the chief executive officers of San Francisco-based Visa and Purchase, New York-based MasterCard.

Senator Durbin is pushing legislation that empowers the Federal Reserve to impose limits on debit card interchange or “swipe” fees that merchants pay to accept the cards.

Curbing the fees, which average about 1 percent per transaction, could crimp revenue at Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. debit-card issuers.

The Senate voted 64 to 33 to approve the measure as part of the financial overhaul bill. The proposal becomes law if it survives a bipartisan panel assigned to merge the House and Senate versions of the legislation, and President Barack Obama signs it. Representative Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat nominated to participate in the talks, said she expects changes in Durbin’s proposal, without elaborating.