News

March, 2022

• 9 March

  Consumer Spending up 8.7% in February and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/9/22

  

  Consumer spending in the United States, in terms of February retail sales excluding auto, was up 8.7% over February 2021 and 17.3% over February 2019, according to Mastercard Inc.’s SpendingPulse report, which monitors in-store and online retail sales.President Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to work out a common …
• 8 March

  ACI Opens up Federal Tax Payments for PayPal And Venmo Options

  

  Consumers accustomed to the PayPal and Venmo digital wallets from PayPal Holdings Inc. can now deploy them to make federal tax payments when using the ACI Payments Inc. service. Announced Tuesday by parent company ACI Worldwide Inc., the service adds another digital tax payment option. And ACI Payments, which ACI …
• 8 March

  A Year After Its SPAC, Payoneer Eyes Growth Opportunities in Emerging Markets

  

  Having posted strong revenue growth in 2021, Payoneer Global Inc., a provider of online money transfer, digital payment services, and working capital to businesses, sees significant growth opportunities in such markets as Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  “These are regions that are in the early stages of …
• 8 March

  Online Interchange Rates To Increase and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/8/22

  

  Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. will raise interchange rates for online merchants starting next month, while also lowering the rates for some small-merchant categories, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Mastercard’s fee changes alone will result in a net increase of about $330 million yearly, according to the Journal story, …
• 7 March

  Visa, Mastercard, And AmEx Follow Through on Suspending Operations in Russia

  

  As Russian armed forces continue their assault on Ukraine, Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and American Express Co. late Saturday said they are suspending all operations in Russia, following up on actions taken by the networks nearly a week earlier. Meanwhile, reports began to filter out of Russia that at least some …
• 7 March

  The CFPB Turns Its Attention to Block’s Cash App

  

  Block Inc., parent company of Square Inc., has become the latest payments provider to come under the scrutiny of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB, as well as attorneys general from multiple states, have requested information from Block related to how the company handles complaints and disputes from customers …
• 7 March

  TCH Notes 9.6% ACH Volume Increase and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/7/22

  

  The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC said transaction volume on EPN, its automated clearing house network, increased 9.6% in 2021. The Clearing House and the Federal Reserve, the only ACH operators in the United States, each handle approximately half the commercial ACH market, TCH said.Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. said Yapstone …
• 4 March

  Chargebacks911 Partners With Microsoft to Cut Down On Friendly Fraud

  

  With card issuers making it easier to dispute a transaction in the two years since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, observers say it has become harder for them to distinguish good customers from bad customers, especially when a transaction is disputed post-purchase. The latter case is when friendly fraud can occur, …
• 4 March

  BNPL’s Exploding Popularity Helps Propel Splitit As It Installs a New CEO

  

  Buy now, pay later has been around for years, but since the onset of the Covid pandemic it has soared in popularity, attracting heavyweight payments companies, opening new payment avenues for consumers, and drawing the attention of federal regulators. Late Thursday, Splitit Payments Ltd. was the latest practitioner to report …
• 4 March

  Visa May Lower Interchange for SMBs and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/4/22

  

  Visa Inc. will decrease interchange rates by 10% for small businesses accepting consumer credit cards in April, according to a Reuters report. The reduced rates will apply to online and card-present transactions and only to merchants with $250,000 or less in Visa consumer credit volumes, Reuters attributed its information to an …