No matter how you feel about the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed 7-to-12-cent cap on debit card interchange and plans for breaking up exclusive debit-network affiliations, the regulatory process has produced some previously unavailable measurements of the booming debit industry. Ahead of writing the proposed rules that it unveiled last week, …

It’s all over but the shouting, at least for now. France’s Ingenico S.A., which sells point-of-sale terminals in North America and elsewhere around the world, on Sunday rejected a suitor that had offered $1.9 billion for the company. Bloomberg had reported on Friday that the suitor was Danaher Corp., Washington, …

A major Federal Reserve payments study released last week grabbed headlines for documenting a dramatic three-year increase in electronic transactions, but a closer examination this week by officials who worked on the report highlights a number of subsidiary trends in such key areas as remote deposit capture, person-to-person payments, and …

The global market for smart phones with near-field communication technology (NFC) will heat up in 2011, opening the way for contactless payments via mobile phones, according to a new report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. But while the U.S. is poised to be a breakout market for NFC at some …

Debit card interchange fees would take a draconian cut under two proposals that the Federal Reserve Board floated on Thursday. Both would set caps of 12 cents per transaction, caps that would take most of the profit out of many transactions, especially signature debit. The board also left open the …

Giving the bank card networks a taste of the medicine they’re getting in the U.S., Canada’s Competition Bureau on Wednesday took action against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. rules against surcharging and honor-all-cards requirements intended to prevent discrimination by Canadian merchants against credit cardholders. “Visa and MasterCard’s anti-competitive behavior hurts …

Financial-industry clients of Goldman Sachs & Co. are bracing for cuts of 40% to 60% in signature debit card interchange rates when the Federal Reserve Board releases its draft regulations for the controversial fee, possibly as soon as Thursday. Many of the investment-banking firm’s clients also expect the Fed to …

Google Inc. continues to cement its early grip on mobile payments, as indicated by the disclosure on Monday that the online search giant has acquired a small company in Toronto whose technology purports to enable payments, promotions, and advertising over mobile phones. News of the deal follows in the wake …

Companies are starting to bet that consumer interest in electronically delivered offers and rewards is spilling into the mobile channel. In the most recent example of this trend, Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based firm whose technology lets consumers redeem rewards by using a bank-issued payment card, this week announced a tie-in with …

While the electronic-payments industry waits for the Federal Reserve to come up with new debit card regulations, the Fed on Wednesday released results from its massive, triennial study of U.S. payments. The numbers show a dramatic rise in debit card transactions, coupled with an equally steep decline in check usage. …