Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A federal judge on Tuesday nullified a pending settlement between American Express Co. and merchants in a class-action lawsuit over AmEx’s anti-steering rules because of improper conduct by a co-lead attorney for the merchants. The decision immediately cast a shadow over the $5.7 billion settlement Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. …
Read More »Appellate Court Reinstates ATM Fee Lawsuit Against Visa and MasterCard
A federal appellate court on Tuesday reinstated a proposed class-action lawsuit over ATM pricing rules that independent ATM operators and consumers filed against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. in 2011 but a district court dismissed in 2013. The ruling originated with three lawsuits filed by the National ATM Council Inc., …
Read More »The Payments Unicorn List Drops by One—But Investor Cash Is Far From Drying up
By John Stewart It is a commonplace notion that unicorns are to be encountered only in myth. But in the world of venture capital, they are becoming increasingly numerous. While it was once considered extremely rare for a privately held startup to achieve a $1 billion-plus valuation, there are now …
Read More »Cardtronics Preps for a Big Gulp of Recovery Work Ahead of 7-Eleven’s Exit
Retail ATM network operator Cardtronics Inc. says it has been preparing for the possible loss of its biggest merchant, convenience-store giant 7-Eleven Inc., for three years and will stick to its established growth plan to fill the impending hole now that that possibility has become a reality. Houston-based Cardtronics has …
Read More »U.S. EMV Conversion Boosts First Data’s Acquiring and Issuing Segments
By Jim Daly First Data Corp. on Wednesday reported modest second-quarter growth in its merchant-acquiring and issuer-processing segments thanks in part to the U.S. conversion to EMV chip card payments and reduced expense growth. In all, First Data reported a net loss of $26 million, a 24% improvement from the …
Read More »Judge Grants Restraining Order to Backpage.Com in Credit Card Dispute With Sheriff
A federal judge on Friday granted a temporary restraining order in favor of online classified-advertising portal Backpage.com, which challenged Cook County, Ill., Sheriff Thomas Dart after Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. granted Dart’s request to ban card payments on Backpage because the site allegedly facilitates the sex trade. A spokesperson …
Read More »Backpage.com Sues Cook County Sheriff in Payment Card Acceptance Dispute
The owner of online classified-advertising portal Backpage.com is suing the sheriff of Cook County, Ill., in federal court for pressuring payment card networks to ban card purchases in Backpage’s adult section. The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Backpage.Com LLC in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges Sheriff Thomas J. Dart engaged …
Read More »In the Face of Increasing Regulation, the ETA Boosts Its Washington Presence
The Electronic Transactions Association, the national merchant-acquiring trade group, is ramping up its presence on Capitol Hill to stem the increasing regulation of the payments industry. The Washington, D.C.-based ETA recently spawned the creation of so-called payments caucuses in both the Senate and House of Representatives, chief executive Jason Oxman …
Read More »Chastened ISO Execs Caution Colleagues on How To Avoid Regulators’ Ire
Two independent sales organization executives who ran afoul of government regulators cautioned their industry colleagues Thursday on how to stay out of trouble. The warnings came during a session at the MidWest Acquirers Association (MWAA) annual conference in Chicago titled “You, Me and the FTC: Personal Stories From Being in …
Read More »EMV and Updated PCI Rules Present Opportunities for ISOs ‘To Gain or Lose Business’
With the impending EMV chip card liability shift on Oct. 1 and the recent establishment of the newest version of the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI), independent sales organizations are at a critical juncture, according to a veteran industry executive. “This is an opportunity for ISOs to gain or …
Read More »