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n U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, is drafting legislation that would legalize Internet poker, a spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News. “This is a poker-only bill,” the spokesperson says. “He [Barton] looks at poker as a game of skill, not a game of chance, and that’s why it should be …
Read More »Visa Offered 35% Interchange Cut for Small Merchants on Eve of Tester-Corker Vote
n That’s the gist of a June 8 letter purportedly from Visa Inc. chairman and chief executive Joseph W. Saunders to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., a copy of which was obtained by Digital Transactions News. On June 8, an amendment to delay Durbin’s provisions for further study …
Read More »DoJ Should Have Pushed Harder on Steering Settlements, Some Merchants Say
The U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents Tuesday that move toward completion its challenge of Visa and MasterCard network rules limiting merchants’ ability to steer customer payments toward their preferred forms. Tuesday’s action is largely procedural as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. announced settlements when the DoJ and seven …
Read More »With Durbin Looming, Are Issuers Pushing Higher-Interchange Cards?
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Read More »An Amendment To Delay the Durbin Amendment Comes Up Short
Defenders of the debit card interchange status quo saw their last, best hope to delay draconian Federal Reserve regulations from taking effect go down to defeat Wednesday afternoon. An amendment in the U.S. Senate that would have delayed the Fed’s rules died on a 54-45 vote, six shy of the …
Read More »As Banks Rally, the NRF Escalates the Debit Card Interchange Lobbying War
With bank opposition to the Durbin Amendment growing, the National Retail Federation on Wednesday launched what it calls a major, 60-day advocacy campaign to “preserve swipe-fee reform” for debit cards. The multipronged effort, according to an NRF news release, includes an “intensive grass-roots” campaign to mobilize retailers through NRF …
Read More »Durbin Regs Will Take Effect, Though Possibly a Little Late And with Caps ‘Modified’
Like them or not, the Federal Reserve Board’s controversial debit card regulations to implement the so-called Durbin Amendment will take effect, though possibly a little late, according to Capitol Hill observers speaking at the Electronic Transactions Association’s annual conference Wednesday. In the meantime, a proposed 12-cent cap on debit interchange …
Read More »Justice Department Seeks to Block VeriFone-Hypercom Merger on Antitrust Grounds
The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit Thursday to stop VeriFone Systems Inc. from buying Hypercom Corp., saying the proposed $485 million stock deal “would substantially reduce competition in the U.S. point-of-sale terminal market.” The DoJ said the current plan to sell most of Hypercom’s U.S. assets to the North …
Read More »AFP Survey Reflects High Sensitivity Among Retailers over Bank Fees
Nearly 90% of all bank fees merchants pay goes toward cash management and card processing, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Association for Financial Professionals, a trade group for corporate financial officers. Meanwhile, some 79% of retailers expect recent legislative changes, including the Durbin Amendment, not only …
Read More »A Little-Noted Durbin Provision Could Cripple Contactless, Hurt NFC, Experts Say
Could a little-noted provision in the Durbin Amendment strangle the nascent U.S. contactless-payments market in its crib? It’s a very real possibility, says a pair of researchers, and the consequences could deal a blow to the prospects for mobile payments that depend on a promising technology called near-field communication (NFC). …
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