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- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced changes to its controversial prepaid accounts rule and extended its effective date by one year, to April 2019. The changes will adjust error-resolution requirements for prepaid card providers and will make it easier for consumers to link credit card accounts to digital wallets, some of which function as prepaid accounts, the CFPB said. The Electronic Transactions Association applauded the CFPB’s actions.
- Continuing its recovery, volume on the Pulse debit network rose 19% year over year in the fourth quarter to $42.4 billion, Pulse owner Discover Financial Services reported. Total volume on Discover’s networks, which also include the Discover credit card, Diners Club International, and network partners, hit $90.3 billion, up 13% from 2016’s fourth quarter.
- In related news, Discover said it plans to raise its minimum hourly pay rate to $15.25 for nearly all of its full-time U.S. employees as a result of the recent federal corporate tax reductions after granting a $1,000 bonus to more than 15,000 non-executive employees earlier this month. The new minimum rate will take effect later this year and cover more than 7,000 employees.
- Merchant processor Square Inc. announced it acquired Entrees On-Trays, a restaurant delivery service in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, will enhance Square’s Caviar food-ordering platform.
- The Identity Theft Resource Center along with partner CyberScout LLC, a data-security services provider, released their 2017 data-breach review, which says the number of U.S. breaches rose nearly 45% to a record 1,579. Some 19.1% of breaches involved credit and/or debit card data, up from 13.2% in 2016, and they exposed 14.2 million records, up 88% from 2016, the ITRC said.
- Mastercard Inc. unveiled its Inclusive Futures Project, an initiative the payment network said will support workers in the gig economy who juggle multiple jobs, variable income, and inconsistent benefits. Mastercard announced the project at this week’s U.S. Conference of Mayors annual winter meeting in Washington, D.C.
- First Data Corp. announced an expansion of an agreement with SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd. in India in which First Data provides card-management services. First Data also will operate a new data center in support of the deal.
- Wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. announced two senior-level executive appointments.
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