Law and Regulation

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …