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By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews For the second time in less than two months, a major payments case is coming before the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, lawyers for merchants and the state of New York will argue before the eight justices over whether the state’s ban on credit card surcharges constitutes illegal …

One of the most intense battles yet seen over card-acceptance costs is over. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced late Thursday it has ended its ban on Visa Inc. cards at 19 Canadian stores as of Friday. “We have come to an agreement with Visa which allows us to continue offering Visa …

A new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts says a minority of “financially vulnerable” consumers generate most overdraft fee revenue for banks, and it calls for bank regulators to put stricter controls on the controversial fee. The report uses data from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, more than 40 banks, and …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews After five years, it looks like class-action lawsuits by ATM independent sales organizations and consumers challenging Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. rules over ATM surcharging on antitrust grounds may finally be headed to trial. The U.S. Supreme Court last week dismissed appeals by Visa and MasterCard after …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Visa Inc.’s practices involving EMV debit card transaction routing, Visa disclosed Tuesday. And the Federal Reserve earlier this month posted guidance about EMV debit routing that, according to retailer trade groups, was issued in response to their objections to Visa’s practices …

• The Federal Reserve posted a notice that a payment network violates the debit card transaction-routing requirements in its rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment if the network requires a merchant to allow a cardholder to choose an application that routes to only one network during an EMV debit card purchase. …

By John Stewart@DTPaymentNews Bitcoin is on a tear again. The cryptocurrency has breached the $700 price barrier seven times out of the last nine days, according to data from Blockchain.info, and bids fair to remain above that level Tuesday. It was trading at $709 early in the day, according to …

Consumers continue to pay higher fees for out-of-network ATM transactions, but have more access to free, non-interest checking accounts, says Bankrate Inc.’s annual survey of checking-account fees. Combined surcharges levied by ATM deployers and a consumer’s own bank total $4.57, up 5 cents, or 1.1%, from a year ago, a …

By Jim Daly@DTPayment News Most of the chatter about how the debit card market has changed in the five years since the Durbin Amendment took effect centers on what market leader Visa Inc. is doing, or how the electronic funds transfer networks are maneuvering to stay alive and grow. But …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Its first full quarter of ownership of the big Costco Wholesale Corp. cobranded credit card portfolio helped to boost Citigroup Inc.’s North American purchase volume by 57%, the giant New York City-based bank reported Friday.