Merchants triumphed over bankers in a battle for billions Wednesday as the Senate voted to let the Federal Reserve curb the fees that stores pay financial institutions when a customer swipes a debit card. It was murkier, however, whether the nation’s consumers were winners or losers. As a result of the roll call, the Fed will be allowed to issue final rules on July 21 trimming the average 44 cents that banks charge for each debit card transaction. That fee, typically 1 percent to 2 percent of a purchase, produces $16 billion each year for banks and card companies, the Fed estimates.
Ford finds partner to build cars in Russia
Ford Motor Co. says it has finalized a deal with Russian automaker Sollers to build cars and other vehicles in Russia. The companies have lined up $1.4 billion in financing from the Russian development bank for the 50-50 joint venture called Ford Sollers. The venture is scheduled to start operating later this year. Ford says the companies signed the deal Wednesday in Moscow with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Ford Sollers operations will include a Ford factory near St. Petersburg that now builds the Focus compact and Mondeo midsize car. Also included are two Sollers factories in Russia. Ford says the plants will make a variety of cars and commercial vehicles including the Ford Transit van.
Twitter to shrink your tweet links
Twitter is offering to automatically shrink your links so they fit within the service’s 140-character limit. Link-shortening services such as bit.ly convert long Web links into a handful of characters. Normally you’d convert the link elsewhere and copy the shortened form to the Twitter message. Now, you’ll be able to do that all from the message box at Twitter.com. After you type a link, Twitter will automatically shorten it to 19 characters, starting with “t.co.” Unlike other shortening services, though, readers of the tweet won’t see the “t.co” version but the actual website you’d be going to, whether it’s YouTube.com or a personal blog. The automatic shrinking feature will be rolled out to users over time. People who prefer another shortening service can still use it the old way.
Share sellers fail to register with SEC
It seemed like an innovative way to buy a beer company: Start an online campaign to purchase the iconic Pabst Brewing Co. and sell shares on Facebook and Twitter to cover the $300 million cost. Michael Migliozzi II and Brian William Flatow found 5 million people who said they would invest a total of $200 million. But the federal government halted the venture after it informed the two men of one major oversight — they neglected to register the public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a violation of federal law. The SEC says it reached a settlement with the two advertising executives. The men agreed to stop selling shares to the public.
From Herald news services
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