Law and Regulation

Payments and rewards platform Blackhawk Network said it will issue two Mastercard-branded products: the Drive Prepaid Card, aimed at EV adoption programs, test drive incentives, and other programs related to automobiles; and the Grocery Prepaid Card, meant for cost relief. Polygon Labs, a blockchain-based payments company, announced agreements to acquire Coinme, a …

The Electronic Payments Coalition and other banking industry groups late Monday warned that enacting President Trump’s proposed one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates would cause the majority of credit card holders to lose access to credit. President Trump, who first floated the proposal during his 2024 presidential campaign, …

Merchant surcharges are proving problematic for card-accepting merchants, as nearly one-third of small businesses say customers walk away from a potential transaction when faced with the extra charge, according to a study released early Tuesday by J.D. Power. Some 35% of merchants are now surcharging when customers use credit cards, …

Tower Payments, a high-risk merchant payment processor, launched a service for e-commerce sites selling nicotine pouches that restores credit card processing in the wake of a sudden account closure by the merchant’s existing processor. The service uses underwriting teams experienced with merchants selling synthetic and tobacco-derived nicotine products to guide …

A federal court ruled that the Trump administration cannot let its funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lapse, the Associated Press reported. The White House has contested how the CFPB is funded, but the judge said its argument about how the bureau “gets its funds is not valid,” the AP said. …

[Aug. 12] Stablecoin giant Circle Internet Group Inc. early Tuesday unveiled Arc, a new payments platform aimed at major money flows, including foreign exchange. The new service, part of the existing Circle Payments Network, will speed up foreign exchange while offering what the company calls “sub-second instant finality” in settlement, the …

[Aug. 8] With merchants prevailing in their long-running legal battle to overturn debit rate caps set by the Federal Reserve, the largest debit card issuers could wind up the biggest losers, while Capital One Financial Corp. emerges as the big winner. U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota …

POSaBIT Systems Corp., a payments processor specializing in cannabis merchants, and Dutchie, a software provider to more than over 6,500 cannabis businesses, late Thursday lauded the Trump administration’s decision to reclassify cannabis to a Schedule III drug as a move that could finally open the door for cannabis merchants to …

Visa Inc. announced early Tuesday it is supporting stablecoins as a settlement option for issuer and acquirer banks in the United States, a major move in payment card finance and one observers see as an inevitable next step for the industry, though one that could come with complications. The use …