Pricing

The Federal Reserve Board is set to revisit its longstanding limit on debit card interchange on Wednesday, and most observers expect the Fed to lower it. But ask Visa Inc. about the matter—as analysts did Tuesday afternoon during the network’s September-quarter earnings call—and its top executives outwardly at least profess …

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors will consider revisions to its cap on debit card swipe fees at its meeting next Wednesday. The announcement was made as part of a public notice about the upcoming board meeting. While no further details were provided about the Fed’s intentions, retailers made it …

Eric Cohen’s Commentary, “Whey the Credit Card Competition Act Falls Short,” posted here Oct. 9, makes three key claims about how the Credit Card Competition Act would supposedly harm small businesses and consumers. All of them are wrong.First, he says the bill would allow merchants “to choose their own network” …

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) looks to be headed for a vote before the end of the year, spurred in part by Sen. Dick Durbin’s recent urging that it be brought to the Senate floor. While the Illinois Senator is of the mind it will help increase industrywide competition …

A new lawsuit filed Thursday against PayPal Holdings Inc. alleges the online powerhouse uses illegally anticompetitive policies that increase costs for consumers. Filed by Hagens Berman, a law firm that specializes in class-action litigation, the suit contends that PayPal prohibits merchants that work with it to offer pricing discounts when …

The federal court overseeing a $5.54-billion settlement between millions of card-accepting merchants, on one hand, and Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., on the other, over interchange costs recently took several steps that ultimately could get payments out to merchants. But checks still won’t be in the mail for some time. …

The shares of Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. reached all-time highs Wednesday following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the two major card networks plan to raise interchange and network fees in October and April. Visa closed at $246.23 per share, and Mastercard at $413.91. The networks have historically introduced new pricing …

ATM owners are charging consumers a record high $3.15 per transaction for making out-of-network withdrawals, up slightly from $3.14 a year ago, according to Bankrate.com. The new high is also the 22nd time in the last 25 years that out-of-network fees levied by ATM owners have hit a new high. …

The recently developed ability to accept card payments on an ordinary smart phone, with no additional hardware, has electrified the payments industry. But the technology, known as SoftPOS, comes with complications that could slow progress, a panel of experts warned Thursday. SoftPOS, which as the name implies relies on specialized …

New Jersey has implemented a law that prohibits merchants in the state from profiting from credit card surcharging and requires merchants to clearly disclose any surcharges to consumers. The law, which was passed by the New Jersey legislature in June and went into effect immediately upon New Jersey Governor Phil …