News

June, 2016

• 9 June

  Did a May Meeting With Durbin Staffers Prompt Visa to Back off on Its New Fee?

  The payments industry may never know for sure what prompted Visa Inc. to back off on a potentially lucrative new fee aimed at issuers planning to defect to other networks. But a clue to the decision emerged Wednesday when U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin’s office issued a statement celebrating the move …
• 9 June

  After Tussling With Visa, Durbin Challenges MasterCard Over an Issuer Fee

  U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin on Thursday asked MasterCard Inc. to explain an obscure fee with a clunky name that the senator believes penalizes MasterCard issuers when merchants exercise their transaction-routing rights under the Durbin Amendment with MasterCard debit card purchases. But MasterCard says issuers benefit whenever its cards are used, …
• 8 June

  How Account Takeovers Complicate the Battle to Control Fraud on Mobile Wallets

  Issuers contending with payment card fraud will have to factor in mobile wallets, especially as the battle to thwart account takeovers intensifies. A majority of issuers—56%—said they cannot further reduce account takeovers without hurting the customer experience, according to a card-issuer fraud study released recently by LexisNexis Risk Solutions and …
• 7 June

  Following Its Decision to Put off a Rollout, MCX to Shut Down Its CurrentC Pilot on June 28

  When the Merchant Customer Exchange LLC announced last month it is postponing a rollout of its CurrentC pilot in Columbus, Ohio, observers suspected the news did not bode well for the merchant-controlled mobile wallet. On Monday, those suspicions were confirmed as MCX told CurrentC account holders in an email that …
• 7 June

  The CFPB Sues Processor Intercept Corp. and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • A bill by U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to replace 2010’s Dodd-Frank Act” would hurt consumers and Main Street businesses,” the Merchants Payments Coalition said, because the measure would do away with the financial reform law’s Durbin Amendment that regulates debit card interchange and sets debit card transaction-routing requirements. …
• 7 June

  Durbin’s Latest Salvo Challenges a New Visa Fee, But Visa Says It Has Dropped It

  Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the author of the fee-capping Durbin Amendment, is well-known as a champion of merchants, but now he’s taking up the cause of small banks and credit unions. Durbin on Tuesday sent a letter to Visa Inc. chief executive Charles Scharf asking for information about a new …
• 7 June

  VeriFone’s EMV Honeymoon Ends; Certification Delays Crimp Earnings

  The U.S. conversion to EMV chip cards has produced a windfall for VeriFone Systems Inc. over the past couple of years. But despite record revenues in the quarter ended April 30, delays in getting EMV equipment certified contributed to sharply lower profits and financial expectations for the leading domestic point-of-sale …
• 6 June

  As the mPOS Revolution Spreads to More Merchants, Players Must Build Scale Fast

  The mobile point-of-sale revolution started in North America with smart-phone readers from startups like Square Inc. and established software houses like Intuit Inc., but it’s now a global phenomenon with broad implications for entrenched players and newcomers alike, according to research released Monday. Indeed, mobile POS gear—chiefly phones or tablets …
• 6 June

  Payments Veteran Khan Says His New Wallet, OmnyPay, Is Nearing Its Retailer Launch

  Mobile-wallet provider OmnyPay Inc. is nearing the launch of its white-label service, which includes payments, loyalty, and offers, with a top 30 U.S. retailer. The debut is expected within the next few months. That’s the word from Mohammad Khan, OmnyPay president and cofounder, in an interview with Digital Transactions News. …
• 6 June

  Nearly 40% of U.S. Visa Credit and Debit Cards Now Have an EMV Chip

  Nearly 283 million Visa-branded credit and debit cards issued by U.S. financial institutions now have an EMV chip, Visa Inc. reports. In addition, some 1.1 million U.S. merchant locations that accept Visa cards now take chip cards. In the latest of the payment card networks’ updates on the U.S. chip …