Law and Regulation

Having taken aim at credit card late fees and interest rates, and having targeted non-bank digital wallet providers, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra has now indicated his regulatory agency is turning its attention to credit card acceptance costs. Chopra’s comments Thursday came as the Credit Card Competition Act, …

The data-sharing routines undergirding a wide variety of payments services offered by fintechs like PayPal and Block depend on open banking, which has emerged to enable crucial information transfers from financial institutions while keeping sensitive account data from falling into the wrong hands. Now the latest update to the rules …

Citing a payments industry that is united in its opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act, research from the Congressional Research Service questioning the benefits of the legislation, and suspect support for the bill among members of Congress, the Electronic Payments Coalition says it is primed to continue its fight …

The U.S. Department of Justice announced late Friday it is filing cases against several fraud rings that use so-called microtransactions to mask their fraudulent activity from victims and card issuers. The lawsuits are being brought as part of efforts by the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch to stop criminals that …

Google has settled an antitrust lawsuit over its Google Play payment practices. The suit, filed in 2021, alleged the Alphabet Inc. unit levied fees up to 30% for app purchases made in its Google Play store. The practice, along with Google Play’s 90% share of all U.S. Android app distribution, …

The digital revolution in payments, characterized by a surge in online transactions and the emergence of novel payment technologies, has been a double-edged sword. While innovations have streamlined commerce, they have also spawned intricate fraud mechanisms, compelling businesses to recalibrate their strategies for safeguarding their operations, reputation, and financial survival. …

A big movement among financial institutions to join the Federal Reserve’s FedNow real-time payments network appears to be benefiting its biggest rival, as well. “Ever since FedNow launched, we’ve seen a surge of interest in real-time payments,” says a spokesman for the Real Time Payments network operated by The Clearing …

The Electronic Payments Coalition has opened a new front in its battle to prevent passage of the Credit Card Competition Act: it’s recruiting social-media influencers to join its cause. In June, the EPC put out a memo on the new tactic as part of its “Hands Off My Rewards” campaign …

With Congress scheduled to adjourn Dec. 15, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., made a last-minute push on the Senate floor late Thursday, calling for a vote on the Credit Card Competition Act before adjournment. Durbin’s remarks, which also pushed back against arguments by  card networks and card issuers that the proposed …

As readers of this article likely know, banks have traditionally kept customers’ financial data within their own closed systems. Open banking allows for financial data to be shared between banks and third-party service providers, using application programming interfaces. With open banking, consumers can dictate what data can be shared with …