Law and Regulation

The payments industry for some time has been seeking meaningful growth in applications based on cryptocurrency, and early on Wednesday, one of the industry’s biggest players in that corner of the marketplace said it is making that happen with stablecoins—digital currency whose value is tied to fiat money like the …

Defendants in the long-running legal battle over merchants’ card-acceptance costs officially filed an Amended Settlement Agreement Monday. The agreement, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, will provide plaintiff merchants meaningful relief by remedying the concerns expressed by the court over a previously …

Merchant organizations contend an expected settlement offer in their ongoing, two-decades-old lawsuit against Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. over card-acceptance fees does not address the underlying problem that leads to high card-acceptance costs in the first place. Merchant opposition surfaced over the weekend after a story in The Wall Street …

The financial-services industry faces a threat even more sophisticated and convincing than traditional cybercrime: AI-powered deepfake voice scams. Unlike conventional account-takeover attempts that rely on stolen credentials and digital channels, these attacks use artificial intelligence to replicate customers’ voices with startling accuracy. They are able to bypass traditional authentication methods …

Early Warning Services LLC announced early Friday its Zelle payments network will expand internationally by using stablecoins for cross-border transactions.  Many details of the new initiative, such as expected volumes and fees, were not immediately available, but the move is aimed at offering faster international payments capability “to Zelle customers …

Attorneys for plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit challenging the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act presented oral arguments Wednesday on plaintiff’s motion for Summary Judgment in the case. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the preliminary injunction against the IFPA be broadened so that all financial institutions are exempt from …

Flexa Network Inc., a payments provider based on digital currencies, has agreed to support in-store cryptocurrency acceptance at Bealls Inc., operator of more than 660 stores in 22 states under Bealls and other brand names. The move, announced Monday afternoon, represents one of the largest planned deployments of in-store crypto …

Nacha members have approved five rule changes meant to boost the use and efficiency of international automated clearing house transactions. International ACH transactions totaled $270.96 billion in value in 2024 on 120.99 million payments, Nacha says. Announced Tuesday, the changes address clearing up what is an international automated clearing house …

Identity-verification platform provider Proof.com has launched Certify, a product intended to combat falsification of signatures created through the use of artificial intelligence. With Certify, users can cryptographically authorize a digital signature on any type of content, such as wire instructions, tax returns, and legal agreements, using a verified legal identity.  …

New research from Datos Insights found that credit and debit cardholders globally made 1.1 trillion purchases worth $45.5 trillion in 2024. Buy now, pay later provider Splitit launched its Agentic Commerce Partner Program, an invitation-only effort to bring card-linked installment payments to autonomous shopping agents. Some 86% of restaurant operators are comfortable with the …