Featured

September, 2018

• 28 September

  Behind the ETA’s Self-Regulation Program for ISOs, Acquirers, and Payment Facilitators

  The word “regulation” generates little enthusiasm in the merchant-acquiring industry, but it’s more palatable when “self” is the operative adjective rather than “government.” Thus, the Electronic Transactions Association is pushing its new Self-Regulation Program for acquirers, independent sales organizations, and payment facilitators. Launched early this month, the voluntary program requires …
• 25 September

  Visa Begins a U.S. Contactless Payments Push Again. This Time the POS Hardware Is in Place

  

  It’s another go-around for contactless payments as Visa Inc. prepares an extensive campaign involving issuers, merchants, and consumers to push use of the payment method. The card brand on Tuesday debuted an infographic on contactless payments from across the globe, and touted the preparedness of the U.S. market for the …
• 21 September

  How iZettle Could Boost PayPal’s Long-Held Strategy to Embrace the Physical Point of Sale

  

  For years, PayPal Holdings Inc. has worked to expand its reach to physical merchants, and now, with the closing on Thursday of its $2.2 billion acquisition of Stockholm-based iZettle AB, the digital-payments company is taking a significant step in achieving that ambition. At a stroke, the acquisition brings to PayPal …
• 17 September

  As Transaction Volume Grows, NACHA Smooths out the Road for Same-Day ACH

  

  With volume building for same-day processing of automated clearing house items, the regulatory body for the extensive ACH network announced Monday a trio of enhancements aimed at, among other things, raising the dollar limit on the faster transfers and making credit funds available faster during the processing day. The changes, …
• 12 September

  Global Mobile Contactless Payments To Hit $1 Trillion by 2022, Researcher Predicts

  

  Mobile contactless payments are growing at a nearly 31% compounded annual rate and will exceed $1 trillion worldwide by 2022, according to a new forecast from 451 Research. The prediction is contained 451’s Global Unified Commerce Forecast, which estimates that total online commerce accounts for about 10% of purchases currently, …
• 7 September

  Data Breaches Register on the Stock Market, Too, And Payments Firms Are Hardest Hit

  

  Data breaches bring a slew of bad consequences for the victim, not the least of which are the costs of lost business, remediation, and, possibly, litigation. But for publicly held entities, there’s an additional risk: a lasting hit to the share price. For 24 companies whose shares are traded on …

August, 2018

• 30 August

  First It Was Trading Through Cash App. Now Square Patents a Network for Crypto Acceptance

  

  The business of getting merchants to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has started to attract independent sales organizations and payments-tech firms alike, and now Square Inc. has jumped in with a proposed service that some experts say could help the payments-technology powerhouse grab a share of online volume. The U.S. Patent …
• 22 August

  Why the Electronic Transactions Association Is Focusing on Canada

  

  In response to Canada’s moves to introduce further regulation of its payments industry, the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Transactions Association said this week it is “expanding” its advocacy effort into that country. So far, the ETA’s effort includes hiring a lobbyist to represent the interests of Canadian payments companies and U.S. …
• 21 August

  General-Purpose Contactless Payments Continue To Struggle on U.S. Transit Systems

  

  Contactless fare payments are still booming on London’s massive public-transportation network, but it’s a different story in the United States despite years of talk and testing. The latest figures from Transport for London, the agency that oversees the United Kingdom capital city’s subways and buses, show an average of 1.48 …
• 17 August

  Dual-Message Interchange for Regulated Debit Card Issuers Declined in 2017, the Fed Reports

  

  Interchange on debit card transactions has changed relatively little in the nearly seven years since the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act took effect, but a Federal Reserve report notes one small but interesting recent change. The average interchange fee in 2017 for dual-message transactions on debit cards regulated …