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The comments are flowing in to the Federal Reserve Board in the wake of the board’s controversial proposals to set a 12-cent cap on debit card interchange, ban exclusive network agreements on debit cards, and give merchants more freedom to direct the routing of debit transactions. To a large degree, …
Read More »Consumers Open Wallets, Hike Spending 5.5% in Run-up to Christmas
Consumers brought holiday cheer back to merchants and payment processors in the run-up to Christmas this year, spending 5.5% more during the period than they did last year and giving signs that they are opening wallets and purses again after a long recession and rocky recovery. Especially noteworthy were sharp …
Read More »The Scope of Debit Regulation Could Range Far Afield, Report Shows
Payments-industry executives and media reports have devoted most of their attention to the big debit card interchange cuts and network-routing aspects of the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed debit regulations that roiled the industry last week. But, given the Fed’s long list of requests for comment, the regulations in final form …
Read More »Treasury Department Likely To Be in Driver’s Seat on Prepaid Card Program
The final rule from the U.S. Treasury Department mandating electronic payment of Social Security and other benefits, which was announced on Tuesday, is likely to greatly expand a federal prepaid card program that has already racked up impressive results. It could also lead Treasury to look for more features and …
Read More »While Slipping, Credit Cards Will Remain Most-Used Online Payment
Credit cards will continue to dominate online payments for at least the next five years, but they will lose share to debit cards, alternative payments, and prepaid and gift cards, according to new projections from Javelin Strategy & Research. Javelin predicts in its “2010 Online Retail Payments Update and Forecast” …
Read More »U.S. Treasury Issues Final Rule on Electronic Benefits Payments
In a move that could bring millions of new users to a popular prepaid card program, the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday issued a final rule mandating that Social Security and other government benefits be paid to beneficiaries electronically. Under the new rule, beneficiaries will receive direct deposits …
Read More »Durbin-Inspired Survey Gives a Rare Look into Debit Cards
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, …
Read More »Takeover Buzz Subsides As Ingenico Rejects a $1.9 Billion Bid
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, …
Read More »A Closer Look at Fed Payments Study Unveils Some Surprises
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 …
Read More »NFC Phones Poised for a Worldwide Boom, But U.S Mobile Payments Will Lag
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 …
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