WASHINGTON – A U.S. Circuit court judge agreed last week to the Fed’s request to grant a delay on an earlier decision that tossed out the agency’s rules governing interchange fees, allowing existing levies to continue while the appeals process unfolds, the Wall Street Journal reports.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon agreed to the Fed's request, while the U.S. Court of Appeals signaled it plans to move the appeals process through quickly. The Fed’s brief in the matter is due October 21, NACS’ brief is due November 20, and the Fed’s reply brief is due December 4. Once briefing is complete, an oral argument date will be set.

Both the Fed and the merchants (including NACS) that sued the Fed argued for the stay, maintaining banks would sharply raise fees if the current system was immediately scrapped.

"Our view on this was that the Fed followed about one-third of the law. If he had removed the stay, none of the law would've been in place, so one-third is better than nothing," said Mallory Duncan, general counsel for the National Retail Federation.