March, 2025

• 1 March

  Payments 3.0: Get Set for the Mini CFPBs

  

  Will the states step into a regulatory gap left by the new Trump administration? In February, acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Russell Vought, director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, ordered the Bureau to close for a week and two senior officials resigned. The Department of …
• 1 March

  Security Notes: Tokenization: Money’s Road to Cyberspace

  

  As human civilization migrates to cyberspace, we run into a big problem. Unlike the migration of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land—where they took along all their belongings (however few they had)—cyberspace migration does not allow us to carry along our material assets. The gatekeepers are quite adamant …
• 1 March

  Fiserv Finds a Successor As CEO Bisignano Takes His Leave

  

  Fiserv Inc. late in January announced Michael P. Lyons will take over as chief executive at Fiserv Inc., replacing Frank Bisginano. Lyons, who is also taking on the office of president at the Milwaukee-based company, arrives from PNC Financial Services Group, a Fiserv client, where he was president and a …

February, 2025

• 1 February

  Looking for Trends? Look at AI, Interchange, And Open Finance

  

  The payments business in 2025 will be rife with open finance, instant payments, multi-rail payments, interchange questions, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, observers suggest. Meanwhile, the top three payments trends will be open finance, instant payments adoption, and point-of-sale innovations, says Capgemini Research Institute in its “Capgemini Financial …
• 1 February

  Security Notes: Is Washington Walking into a Trap?

  

  At some point recently, President Trump flipped from dismissing Bitcoin to glorifying this coin, and declaring his wish to turn Washington into the “Crypto Capital of the World.” He even spoke of establishing strategic Bitcoin reserves. For those who are familiar with the mathematical foundation of this digital currency, the …
• 1 February

  Payments 3.0: A Resurgence of Cash in 2025?

  

  While cash use has been trending down for a number of years, shoppers, diners, and travelers may soon find more value in paying with coins and folding money. Like many people, I was traveling and dining out around the December holidays. As I crossed four Midwestern states, it seemed that …

January, 2025

• 1 January

  Security Notes: Bitcoin: Communism Tries Again

  

  In the year 1848, a short publication called “The Communist Manifesto” soon swept up millions in a kind of religious devotion, raving about the end of oppressive governments, declaring a world order where power is vested not in the ruling elite but in the roaring voice of the industrial crowds. …
• 1 January

  Has the CCCA Reached the End of the Road?

  

  The odds are against passage of the Credit Card Competition Act any time soon. Prospects that the bill might advance received a major blow late in November as Sen. Thom Tillis said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about credit card swipe fees the bill “is not going to pass” …
• 1 January

  Payments 3.0: The Complications of Trump 2.0

  

  Don’t start laying off your compliance and government-relations teams just yet. After the Republican sweep of the White House and Congress, the payments industry seems to think its regulatory problems are solved. With the Congressional Review Act to eliminate present regulations, campaign promises for deregulation, and calls to “delete” the …

December, 2024

• 1 December

  Payments 3.0: The CFPB And the Future of Open Banking

  

  Beyond opposing a sweeping new rule on data sharing, the financial industry will have to cope with the new digital reality that led to the rule. In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its final rule on “Personal Financial Data Rights.” To oversimplify, it requires that companies share their …