Law and Regulation

The federal government and the state of Utah this week cleared the way for a controversial industrial loan corporation to be set up by Square Inc. that could help the payments company cement ties with its merchant base. But the approvals also drew fierce opposition from banking groups concerned about …

Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments 2020 Conference has been canceled because of concerns related to the novel coronavirus. Nacha said it is trying to develop a free virtual event with select educational content. Next year’s conference is scheduled for April 25-28 in San Francisco.Dueling bills have been introduced in the Delaware Legislature that would …

As the plague of ransomware continues to roil digital payments and other industries, it turns out state and local governments are proving to be particularly vulnerable. In fact, ransomware attacks on school systems, police departments, city administrative offices, and other governmental agencies are rising fast. Last year, state and local …

Perk Labs Inc. announced an agreement with Alipay that will enable Alipay users to make payments on the Perk platform.EVO Payments Inc. said it will offer the Nexgo Inc. N5 Android smart point-of-sale terminal.Certemy Inc., a professional certification and licensing management platform, introduced new payment gateway options, including Stripe Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., …

Independent sales organizations are increasing their use of non-compliance fees for merchants that don’t adhere to PCI Security Standards Council requirements, with 23% of ISOs surveyed for the ControlScan/MAC 2020 Acquiring Trends Report saying they assess these fees. That’s up from the historic range of 17% to 18%. The report, …

With just over seven months to go before a crucial liability shift, just how well is the conversion of U.S. gasoline pumps to accept EMV chip cards going? It depends on whom you ask. Visa Inc. says it’s progressing nicely. “I think we’re actually doing pretty well,” Julie Scharff, Visa’s …

Cash App may be turning into the product that ate Square Inc. The company on Wednesday reported a big fourth quarter for the 4-year-old product as officials pointed to a strong performance overall for the full year. “2019 was a very good year for us,” Square chief executive Jack Dorsey …

The controversial Libra cryptocurrency project gained a new member Friday with Shopify Inc.’s announcement it will join the Libra Association, the governing body for the fledgling venture. Shopify’s decision comes in the face of a string of eight high-profile defections from the association since October, including decisions by Mastercard Inc., …

PayPal Holdings Inc. said it and the Center on Crime and Community Resilience at Northeastern University, along with the University of Chicago Crime Lab, formed a research project to examine payment methods used to finance illegally-sourced firearms with the goal of combatting the illegal sale of guns.Processor Fiserv Inc. announced its “Scan to …

Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell is testifying before Congress this week, and mixed in with questions and answers about interest rates, economic growth, and employment could be queries about when the Fed is going to update its cap on the fees issuers can charge for debit card transactions. At …