Law and Regulation

Despite all the talk about mobile payments, online payments, cryptocurrencies, and EMV chip cards, the alternatives to cash still haven’t killed their sworn enemy. In fact, between 2006 and 2016, the growth of currency in circulation matched or exceeded growth in gross domestic product in 40 of 42 nations examined …

Richard Cordray, the only person so far to serve as director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced Wednesday that he will resign by month’s end. The widely anticipated move casts uncertainty over the CFPB’s future, including its policies on electronic payments. “For President Trump, it will be yet …

The Clearing House’s much-anticipated real-time payments system, dubbed RTP, went live late Monday afternoon, ushering in a new era of faster electronic payments in the United States. The transaction between The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.’s BNY Mellon subsidiary and U.S. Bancorp’s U.S. Bank was completed at 4:59:40 p.m. …

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. confirmed Friday that it will settle its lawsuit against Visa Inc. over EMV debit card transaction routing. That news comes one day after the two leaders in their respective industries settled lawsuits they filed against each other stemming from the massive and still-ongoing credit card interchange litigation …

After suffering a spike in fraud from skimmers on gas pumps earlier this year, fleet-fueling payment specialist WEX Inc. reported Wednesday that fraud losses are falling thanks to its new risk-control systems. “The steps we have taken to reduce losses fraud have started to pay off,” Roberto Simon, chief financial …

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a controversial antitrust case in which American Express Co. is defending its anti-steering rules for merchants against challenges from 11 states led by Ohio, Reuters reported. Payments provider TransCard Payments LLC announced a partnership with ExpenseAnywhere, an accounts-payable software developer. Travel Centers of America …

What role government regulators should play as financial-technology companies increasingly challenge banks with new services for consumers and merchants is generating more debate in the electronic-payments industry. At a forum Tuesday, regulators said they want to encourage innovation while protecting consumers, but an executive with an online business lender argued …

It was just over a month ago that a ranking U.S. Department of Justice official told Congress that Operation Choke Point had ended. But the ATM Industry Association on Wednesday said it is distributing materials to its members to help them deal with the “lingering impact” of the controversial program. …

There are still many unknowns, but siding and the roof are on order for the frame of the Federal Reserve’s faster-payments project. That’s the message conveyed Tuesday by Fed officials and payments-industry executives who participated in a years-long effort to speed up U.S. electronic payments as well as make them …

A new unit formed by the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission will have among its responsibilities “violations involving distributed-ledger technology and initial coin offerings,” according to an announcement from the SEClate Monday. What the agency calls its Cyber Unit will also focus on market manipulation via social …