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The ranks of major retailers suing the bank card networks over interchange swelled by one today when Publix Super Markets Inc. announced it had filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Visa USA and MasterCard International. The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocery chain's suit alleges the practice of setting interchange by the two …
Read More »Wal-Mart Says POP a Success, but Uncertainty from Fee Holds It Back
Contrary to the misgivings of some retailers regarding the automated clearing house's point-of-purchase electronic check application, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says its experience with POP has been largely positive. At the same time, however, a new fee proposed by NACHA, the rules-setting organization for the ACH, and intended to discourage unauthorized …
Read More »Another Interchange Suit Seeks Sweeping Reform of Fee-Setting Mechanism
The legal battle over the bank card associations' interchange pricing arrangements, already red-hot, got even hotter today when four retail trade associations slapped Visa U.S.A., MasterCard International, and several major banks with a class-action antitrust suit. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New …
Read More »Hannaford Finds PIN Debit Is Now As Expensive As Checks
Despite the vaunted efficiencies of electronic transactions, at least one regional supermarket chain has found its cost to accept PIN debit transactions is running close to its acceptance costs for paper checks. As a result, says Bryan Croteau, senior business analyst for Hannaford Bros. Co., Portland, Me.,”I don't want to …
Read More »I4 Commerce Reports Bill Me Later Growth, Looks to Debit, Prepaid in ’06
Reporting rapid growth for its payment service and rising interest in a new marketing and finance platform it rolled out last month, I4 Commerce Inc. says it will begin next year expanding into new payment channels, with debit and stored-value ranking as distinct possibilities. The company will end the year …
Read More »MasterCard to Appeal U.K. Interchange Ruling, While Visa Could Be Next
MasterCard International said today it will appeal a decision from the U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading that concluded the bank card network's method of setting interchange was anti-competitive. Meanwhile, a trade group representing British merchants said it was disappointed in the OFT ruling and may also appeal. The U.K. regulator …
Read More »MasterCard’s IPO Could Let Retailers Boost Their Bank Card Clout
Special Report MasterCard Inc.'s proposed initial public stock offering would put 49% of the payment company's shares and more than 80% of the voting power in the hands of the public, potentially increasing the influence of aggrieved retailers who believe they currently get a raw deal in card pricing. MasterCard …
Read More »Irked by Card Costs, Gasoline Exec Says It’s Time for Interchange Cap
A top official of a regional gasoline marketers' association who wrote a letter to Congress earlier this month calling for regulation of bank card interchange fees says he would like to see the federal government impose a cap on interchange. “They need to look at Australia [where banking regulators last …
Read More »PayPal Moves into Micropayments with New Cut-Rate Pricing
Having gotten its feet wet with song downloads, PayPal Inc. is marching full-bore into micropayments. The San Jose, Calif.-based payments processor announced today new, cut-rate merchant pricing on transactions under $2 for digital content, which the company defines as video games, online greeting cards, news articles, and mobile-phone content such …
Read More »A Gasoline Retailers’ Group Asks Congress for Interchange Relief
A top official for a trade association representing half of the gas-station operators in Colorado has written to Congress asking for regulation of credit card interchange fees. In a letter dated Aug. 15 and printed in today's online edition of the Rocky Mountain News, Roy A. Turner, executive vice president …
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