Banks Are Lying Thieves-Debit Card Edition

Marketplace:

Moon: So give me a sense of how big these fees have been on merchants and what difference today's decision is going to make.
Vanek Smith: Well the fees vary, actually, depending on your bank and the size of your purchase. But the average charge is about 44 cents per debit card swipe, which might not sound like a lot, but the banks take in about $15 billion in swipe fees every year. Now, the Fed is going to cap that at about 20 cents per swipe.
Moon: Now I understand the Fed originally planned to cap it at around 10 cents. Now we're talking just a dime or two less per transaction. Is that really such a big deal?
Vanek Smith: Yes. They did originally say they were going to cap it at 10 cents, but the banks made a lot of noise about it -- the Fed got thousands of comments -- so it compromised and will cap the fees at 20 cents. And it is actually a pretty big deal. It's going to take a big chunk out of the $15 billion the banks were taking in, and what's more, the banks now say they'll lose money on every transaction. They say every time you swipe your debit card, it costs them about 27 cents, which is higher than the cap. Just FYI, though, the Fed did their own calculation and says the bank only pays about 4 cents per swipe, which would still leave room for a pretty healthy profit for the banks. (emphasis mine)

I just bought a case of Mountain Dew on sale for $5.  That's 21 cents per can.  How can Pepsi make pop, put it in an aluminum can, ship it to the store and the store sell it for less than what banks claim it costs them to electronically process the debit card swipe to pay for it.  The Fed is right, and banks are lying asshole crooks, that's how.