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The Durbin debit numbers are out, and they aren’t pretty for Visa Inc., the leading debit card player in the U.S. Visa on Wednesday reported that U.S. debit payments volume plummeted 9.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 ended June 30, hitting $266 billion versus $294 billion a year …
Read More »As Big Chains Chafe at Settlement, Smaller Retailers Celebrate the Deal
With each passing day, the proposed settlement of the giant antitrust suit over credit card interchange and card network rules appears to unravel even more as big-box merchants increasingly express dissatisfaction with the $7-billion-plus deal. The latest is Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which issued a statement on Tuesday opposing the agreement …
Read More »Target’s Scathing Criticism Casts a Cloud Over Interchange Settlement
More evidence of widespread merchant antipathy to the credit card interchange settlement announced July 13 emerged late Friday when big-box retailer Target Corp. came out against the plan. Industry observers expect more opposition from merchants to emerge, casting doubt on the settlement’s future. But a lobbying group for payment card …
Read More »The New CFPB Will Keep an Eye on Mobile Payments
n n n n n Blow’s comments before the regional ISO trade group came just a day after the CFBP announced its first public enforcement action, one that targeted the issuing side of the credit card business. The CFPB issued an order requiring a bank subsidiary of the big issuer …
Read More »Mitek Fires Another Salvo in Battle with USAA Over Mobile Capture Technology
A pitched battle between two of the earliest players in the business of mobile check capture escalated on Thursday when Mitek Systems Inc. filed a legal motion accusing USAA of defamation and unfair business practices. Mitek’s action is the latest salvo in a case in which San Antonio, Texas-based USAA …
Read More »Merchants Wring More Than $7 Billion out of Networks, Banks in Credit Card Settlement
The card networks, major U.S. banks, and U.S. merchants reached a $7-billion-plus settlement late on Friday, capping a seven-year battle over credit card interchange and network acceptance rules. If approved by the court, the settlement will be the largest such agreement ever in an antitrust case. Under the terms of …
Read More »Brooklyn Court Could Be More Inclined to Rule Reform Than Interchange Cuts
With a trial date looming in September, speculation is rising that a major antitrust case challenging credit card interchange will result in new rules handing merchants wider latitude in surcharging for transactions, routing payments, and steering customers to other cards or forms of payment. Settlement talks in the case, known …
Read More »Gift Card Sellers Get Half a Loaf in New Jersey As State Delays ZIP Code Rule
New Jersey has delayed implementation of the most onerous provisions of an unclaimed-property law affecting gift cards that caused American Express Co. and two major gift card distributors to pull out of the state this spring. The changes Gov. Chris Christie signed into law last week, however, don’t repeal the …
Read More »Discover’s Chief Hits Visa’s Strategy To Defend Its Debit Market Share
The chief executive officer of Discover Financial Services isn’t too pleased with what Visa Inc. is doing to retain its lead in the debit marketplace now that the Durbin Amendment’s transaction-routing provisions are in place. Discover owns the Houston-based Pulse network, which like other electronic funds transfer networks stands to …
Read More »Check 21 Saved U.S. Payments System $3 Billion-Plus in 2010, Fed Paper Estimates
Check 21 saved the U.S. payments system more than $3 billion in 2010 as paper check clearing gave way almost entirely to image clearing, according to a paper released recently by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The paper sets out what is believed to be the first effort at …
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