In reconnecting with the payments industry after my Congressional run, one topic has come up in conversation more than any other: interchange regulations. Specifically, S.1838, the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023 (CCCA), which takes a market-driven approach to driving down interchange fees. By enabling two credit card networks on …
Read More »Full Send-And-Receive Capabilities Are Key to Growing Real Time Payments, a Report Argues
Despite many financial institutions lagging behind when it comes to the adoption of full send-and-receive capabilities for real-time payments, that trend is expected to reverse itself starting in 2025, says a report from Q2 Holdings Inc., a provider of digital-banking solutions. As more financial institutions add full send/receive capabilities for …
Read More »Mastercard Addresses the Fate of Cap One’s Debit Cards
The pending $35.3-billion merger of Capital One and Discover has concentrated minds in the payments industry for nearly a year, but perhaps nowhere so much as at Mastercard Inc. That became apparent early Thursday as equity analysts quizzed the card network’s top brass about the combination’s potential impact on Mastercard, …
Read More »Same-Day ACH’s Bloom and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/30/25
Same-day ACH payment volume topped 1.2 billion payments in 2024, said Nacha, the automated clearing house rule maker, and was valued at $3.2 trillion. Nacha said same-day ACH volume increased 45.3% from 2023 to 2024. Overall, ACH Network payment volume rose 6.7% from 2023 to 2024, to 33.6 billion payments in …
Read More »Codego Launches Gateway Software While KuCoin Looks to Recover From Its Legal Woes
The fintech Codego Ltd. has launched its Cryptogateway software, which enables merchants in 33 countries to accept cross-border in-person and e-commerce transactions in cryptocurrency and receive the funds in fiat money in an IBAN account. IBAN accounts are typically used to hold funds arising from cross-border transactions. The new service, which works …
Read More »XMoney Signs Visa as Partner and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/28/25
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, appears to have signed a deal with Visa Inc. for the card brand to be a partner in XMoney Account, the platform’s possible payments service, reported CNBC.com. Fuel discount platform GasBuddy launched its Pay with GasBuddy+ card issued by Fifth Third Bank N.A. bearing the …
Read More »AmEx Closes Out 2024 On a High Note As Growth Proves Steady
Top executives at American Express Co. early Friday celebrated the final quarter of what they said was a year to remember. “We delivered record revenue, record net income, and new records in many categories,” including all-time-high cardholder spending, AmEx chief executive Steve Squeri told equity analysts during a conference call …
Read More »Discover Volume up 4% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/23/25
Discover Financial Services reported payments volume of $102 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, up 4% year-over-year, including a 7% rise for the Pulse electronic funds transfer network and a 9% increase for Diners Club. Overall, the company reported a 14% increase in revenue net of interest expense, to $4.76 …
Read More »Maryland Is the Latest Batter to Take a Swing at Regulating Interchange on Sales Tax and Tips
The Maryland legislature held a hearing late Tuesday on a bill prohibiting interchange from being charged on sales tax and gratuities linked to credit and debit card transactions. The bill, introduced by Delegates Todd Morgan and Brian Crosby, is the latest in what is expected to be a flurry of …
Read More »Cardworks Acquires Ally Card Portfolio and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/22/25
Cardworks Inc. and its banking unit, Merrick Bank, have agreed to acquire Ally Financial Inc.’s credit card portfolio. The business includes $2.3 billion in receivables and serves 1.3 million active cardholders. Terms were not announced. The card-issuing platform Marqeta Inc. is supporting efforts by Trading 212, a developer of financial apps, to launch …
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