In Massachusetts, business owners have saved an average of $225.89 for every $100,000 of Visa/MasterCard signature debit and credit card volume processed as a result of the Durbin Amendment.

The amendment is an addendum to the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by Congress in 2010. Its namesake, Sen. Richard Durbin from Illinois, wrote the plan to expand Federal Reserve powers for setting interchange fees related to debit card transaction processing. In setting the fees, the ultimate goal is spur economic growth with lower fees.

Heartland Payment Systems, one of the nation’s largest payments processors, has released the first state-specific data about the legislation’s actual effects on business owners in various states across the country.

The data collected between Oct. 1 and Oct. 16 across Heartland’s portfolio of 250,000 merchant locations shows for every $100,000 of Visa and MasterCard signature debit and credit card volume processed, the average savings per merchant across all states is $260.24. Washington, D.C., merchants received the highest average savings of $333.94, while Montana merchants saw the least average savings of $127.87. The savings variance from state to state is a result of the number of large versus small banks in the area, as well as the mix of credit and debit card volume processed.

"Merchants are wondering how the percentage of regulated versus non-regulated transactions in their states would impact their savings, and this data provides insight into exactly that," said Bob Baldwin, Heartland’s president. "By providing business owners a frame of reference for how much money, on average, their peers across their state are saving from Durbin, they have an idea of what their own savings may be. Familiarizing themselves with this information is a preliminary step in ensuring they receive the full benefit of the reform."