Law and Regulation

  Federal banking regulators on Tuesday updated their 2005 guidance about authentication for Internet banking. Officially a supplement to the original guidance, the new document addresses social media, malware, and other security issues that have cropped up in recent years. It also allows financial institutions about seven months to comply. …

  n U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, is drafting legislation that would legalize Internet poker, a spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News. “This is a poker-only bill,” the spokesperson says. “He [Barton] looks at poker as a game of skill, not a game of chance, and that’s why it should be …

  n That’s the gist of a June 8 letter purportedly from Visa Inc. chairman and chief executive Joseph W. Saunders to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., a copy of which was obtained by Digital Transactions News. On June 8, an amendment to delay Durbin’s provisions for further study …

The U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents Tuesday that move toward completion its challenge of Visa and MasterCard network rules limiting merchants’ ability to steer customer payments toward their preferred forms. Tuesday’s action is largely procedural as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. announced settlements when the DoJ and seven …

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Defenders of the debit card interchange status quo saw their last, best hope to delay draconian Federal Reserve regulations from taking effect go down to defeat Wednesday afternoon. An amendment in the U.S. Senate that would have delayed the Fed’s rules died on a 54-45 vote, six shy of the …

  With bank opposition to the Durbin Amendment growing, the National Retail Federation on Wednesday launched what it calls a major, 60-day advocacy campaign to “preserve swipe-fee reform” for debit cards. The multipronged effort, according to an NRF news release, includes an “intensive grass-roots” campaign to mobilize retailers through NRF …

Like them or not, the Federal Reserve Board’s controversial debit card regulations to implement the so-called Durbin Amendment will take effect, though possibly a little late, according to Capitol Hill observers speaking at the Electronic Transactions Association’s annual conference Wednesday. In the meantime, a proposed 12-cent cap on debit interchange …

The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit Thursday to stop VeriFone Systems Inc. from buying Hypercom Corp., saying the proposed $485 million stock deal “would substantially reduce competition in the U.S. point-of-sale terminal market.” The DoJ said the current plan to sell most of Hypercom’s U.S. assets to the North …

Nearly 90% of all bank fees merchants pay goes toward cash management and card processing, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Association for Financial Professionals, a trade group for corporate financial officers. Meanwhile, some 79% of retailers expect recent legislative changes, including the Durbin Amendment, not only …