By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Visa Inc.’s practices involving EMV debit card transaction routing, Visa disclosed Tuesday. And the Federal Reserve earlier this month posted guidance about EMV debit routing that, according to retailer trade groups, was issued in response to their objections to Visa’s practices …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews The faster-payments movement in the United States took a key step forward late in September with the automated clearing house network’s adoption of same-day clearing, and now numbers are available for the first full month of faster ACH processing. A total of $4.98 billion on 3.8 …

• Payments-technology provider linked2pay said it and Push Payments, a payments processor, have made real-time payments available on linked2pay’s Bank Centric Payments platform. • JetPay Corp. reported a 48% year-over-year increase in third-quarter revenues to $15.2 million; the processor also reported a net loss of $2.9 million compared with a $1.7 …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Merchant trade groups have kept up a steady drumbeat this year in support of the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment with its debit card regulations. But, with Republicans taking full control of the federal government in January, the drumbeat got louder Tuesday when 627 large and small merchants …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Countless analysts have tried to diagnose what ails the lackluster U.S. mobile-wallet market, but new observations from securities rating agency Fitch Ratings Inc. succinctly identify three primary causes: a lack of compelling value propositions, an overcrowded market, and cyber-risk aversion on the part of consumers. “The vast …

• Rite Aid Corp. announced that American Express Co. cardholders now can use their Membership Rewards points for purchases at its drugstores. They also can use their Plenti points earned using the AmEx-backed coalition rewards service • Growth in consumer revolving credit cooled off to a 5.2% seasonally adjusted annualized rate in …

• Gift cards were the most sought-after gifts among consumers queried for a survey about the upcoming holiday season and sponsored by the National Retail Federation; 61% of respondents reported wanting a gift card, followed by clothing and accessories, 54%; and books, CDs, DVDs or videos, 40%. • Merchant processor …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Retailers can expect a bump upward in the dollars consumers load on closed-loop gift cards this holiday season as a festive spirit takes hold and more merchants favor the cards over holiday discounts, according to a forecast released Friday by payments consultancy Mercator Advisory Group. “Retailers …

• Citigroup Inc. became the latest bank to introduce a proprietary mobile wallet, in this case Citi Pay, which will launch later this year in Singapore, Australia, and Mexico, and in the U.S. early next year. Working with MasterCard Inc.’s Masterpass digital-payments service, Citi Pay provides online and in-app payment capability, …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews In a move that will further consolidate the U.S. acquiring business, payment processor Vantiv Inc. announced late Thursday that it has an agreement to buy Moneris Solutions Corp.’s U.S. merchant-acquiring subsidiary from its Canadian owners for $425 million in cash.  Also known as Moneris USA, Schaumburg, Ill.-based …