Law and Regulation

The Western Union Co. will pay $586 million to the federal government to reimburse consumers victimized by fraud as a result of the company’s allegedly lax supervision of agents and anti-fraud and money-laundering controls. The settlements announced Thursday are a result of investigations that covered payments involving the smuggling of …

The Electronic Transactions Association went on record Tuesday supporting the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s proposed limited-purpose national bank charter for financial technology companies, but a national trade group of small banks “expressed strong concerns” about the idea. The opinions expressed by the ETA and the Independent Community …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews For the second time in less than two months, a major payments case is coming before the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, lawyers for merchants and the state of New York will argue before the eight justices over whether the state’s ban on credit card surcharges constitutes illegal …

In a rare move against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal court has upheld a counterclaim against the agency filed by a company that provides mortgage-payment services through the automated clearing house network. The U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California ruled on Dec. 13 that Nationwide …

Payments Canada, operator of three major payment systems in that country, issued a five-point plan Thursday to put Canada on a path toward faster and more efficient electronic payments. The plan has many similarities with efforts by Canada’s southern neighbor to modernize payments, but also some differences, according to a …

The U.S. Treasury Dept.’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, plans to create a special-purpose national bank charter for financial technology companies, a booming field in which payments firms play prominent roles. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry divulged the planned charter during a speech Friday at …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Perhaps when he’s not tweeting, President-elect Donald J. Trump will get around to reading the letter the Electronic Transactions Association sent to him Monday outlining payments-industry proposals for Congress and federal regulators once Trump’s administration takes over in January. “ETA encourages your administration to create a policy …

Visa Inc. disclosed Tuesday that it has modified its chip debit card transaction-routing policies in the wake of the increasing governmental scrutiny the largest payment card network’s routing practices have attracted since EMV chip cards took hold in the U.S. beginning last year. A key change assures merchants that they …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews After five years, it looks like class-action lawsuits by ATM independent sales organizations and consumers challenging Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. rules over ATM surcharging on antitrust grounds may finally be headed to trial. The U.S. Supreme Court last week dismissed appeals by Visa and MasterCard after …

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 …