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 …
Read More »The EPC Recruits Social Media Influencers to Turn Up the Heat on the CCCA
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 …
Read More »With Time of the Essence, Arguments for And Against the CCCA Intensify
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 …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Why Networks Should Welcome, Not Fear, Open Banking
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 …
Read More »In Announcing Its Q3 Results, POSaBIT Reveals Plans For a POS Device for Cannabis Merchants
POSaBIT Systems Corp., a payments processor specializing in cannabis merchants, announced its third-quarter earnings along with plans for a point-of-sale device earmarked for cannabis retailing. The company said transaction volume for the quarter totaled $157.9 million, up 11% from the same period a year ago. Revenues for the quarter totaled …
Read More »Claims Process Begins in Interchange Lawsuit And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/1/23
The claims process begins today for merchants to file for a share of the $5.54-billion settlement of a massive lawsuit originally filed more than a decade ago that alleged that Visa, Mastercard, and banks had violated antitrust laws in setting fees for card acceptance. The number of merchants involved is expected to …
Read More »Square Holiday Shopping up 14% And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/28/23
Square and Afterpay merchants counted 70 million transactions over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday holiday weekend, up 14% from the same period in 2022, Square said. In-person shopping increased 15% year-over-year. Amendments under consideration by Australia’s national government would impose on digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay the same regulations as those enacted …
Read More »3-D Secure Use Drives Down CNP Fraud Rates, Report Finds
Merchants and financial institutions that use 3-D Secure to help vet online transactions in markets that require its use see fraud rates that are three to six times lower than for all card-not-present transactions. That’s one finding from a Outseer-sponsored report completed by the research and consulting firm Datos Insights. …
Read More »A New York Times Op-Ed Video Favoring the CCCA Sparks a New Tussle Over the Bill
The Electronic Payments Coalition issued a press release late Tuesday taking issue with a New York Times op-ed video that argues merchants and consumers already pay a high price for rewards cards and expresses support for the Credit Card Competition Act. In its rebuttal responding to the video, Richard Hunt, …
Read More »As Online Phishing Attacks Mushroom, E-Commerce Merchants Are Favored Lures
More than 30 million phishing attacks were launched against online stores, payment systems, and banks during the first 10 months of 2023, according to the latest report from Kaspersky Labs, a Moscow-based cybersecurity and antivirus provider operated by a holding company in the United Kingdom. E-commerce platforms bore the brunt …
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