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ATM owners and operators are thrilled about the new opportunities deposit automation and mobile devices are creating for their industry. They’re not so thrilled about the major card networks, according to survey findings released Tuesday by the ATM Industry Association, an international trade group of ATM independent sales organizations, …
Read More »Visa Hits Wal-Mart in Court with a Pre-Emptive Interchange Strike
Going on the offense for the second time in less than a month, Visa Inc. on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. seeking to prevent the world’s largest retailer from suing Visa over interchange. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart is mulling a legal challenge to the bank card networks on …
Read More »As the CFPB Studies Overdrafts, Some Say Any New Rules Could Favor Debit Volume
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appears to be gearing up to put more controls on bank overdraft fees. The impact of any new overdraft rules on debit cards is unknown but there’s a chance they could prove positive for transaction volume, according to one industry researcher. The CFPB, a creation …
Read More »Visa Looks To Usher in a New Era of Understanding with Merchants And Government
Working closely with merchants, card issuers, and merchant acquirers to deliver more value through its brand at the point of sale, as opposed to enhancing revenues through price increases, is the road map Visa Inc. laid out Thursday at its Investor Day conference. “We don’t feel we have to raise …
Read More »FDIC Signals Increased Non-Bank Scrutiny with Action Against Prepaid Program Manager
In an action that appears to signal stepped-up scrutiny of non-bank prepaid card distributors by federal banking regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday announced it is fining Achieve Financial Services LLP $110,000 and forcing it to pay at least $1.1 million in restitution to consumers. The FDIC also …
Read More »The FTC’s Breach Lawsuit Against Wyndham Becomes a Cybersecurity Flashpoint
A formerly obscure lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission against Wyndham Worldwide Corp. and three subsidiaries in the wake of three data breaches at the hotel chain has become the flashpoint of a growing debate about the lack of a federal law governing data security on the Internet and …
Read More »Liberty Reserve Case Exemplifies New Focus by Prosecutors on Digital Currency
The shutdown of digital-currency network Liberty Reserve by federal prosecutors on money-laundering charges is part of the increased focus on the virtual-currency market by regulators and law enforcement agencies, but doesn’t necessarily mean all such currencies face the same fate. While Liberty Reserve shared some common features with Bitcoin …
Read More »Court’s Critique Sparks NetSpend To Mull New Offers As Alternatives to TSYS Bid
Prepaid card program manager NetSpend Holdings Inc. on Wednesday said it will postpone until June 18 the shareholder meeting it planned for Friday to approve its $1.4 billion sale to processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS). The delay is an attempt in the wake of two shareholder lawsuits to create …
Read More »Visa, MasterCard File Suit As Credit Card Settlement Spawns More Litigation
World War I was supposed to be the war that ended all wars. It didn’t, of course. And the settlement announced last July that was supposed to end lawsuits over bank card interchange and related network rules not only is failing to end litigation between merchants and the card …
Read More »As a Key Deadline Nears, Credit Card Interchange Settlement Inspires a Raft of Rhetoric
The rhetoric spewing from partisans on both sides of the massive credit card interchange-litigation settlement is heating up as a major deadline in the 8-year-old case approaches. May 28 is the last day the court overseeing the case will let merchants opt out of their share of monetary damages …
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