SAN DIEGO — Though the banking industry has screamed out on its distaste for the Durbin Amendment taking away a hefty portion of its debit revenue, there may be another side effect banks should pay attention to: With lower interchange debit fees, emerging payments may win some favor by consumers and merchants.

At least that was one view expressed at last week’s Electronic Transaction Association’s Annual Meeting & Expo.

Todd Ablowitz, president of Double Diamond Group LLC, a global electronic payments consultancy, pointed to Square as a startup with “staggering merchant growth” that serves an underserved market and whose growth could further deepen  because of pending interchange regulation.

“Some of the markets like this will fire up because of Durbin,” Ablowitz said.

Popularity with newer payment markets might emerge because A.) Consumers will want to use alternative payment methods that are less costly than using their debit cards, whose fees are expected to rise when the regulation hits. And B.) Merchants’ desires for using alternative payments may deepen to troubleshoot a possible decline in PIN debit transactions.