Pricing

More than 10 years after Visa Inc. wrote its rules permitting surcharging on its credit cards, questions remain among acquirers, especially those selling or considering surcharge programs for their merchants. Now, as more merchants mull surcharge or cash-discount programs to alleviate some of their card-acceptance costs, and with recent changes …

Two point-of-sale companies have separately taken steps to boost their competitiveness, one with an acquisition and the other in a marketing expansion. Payments platform Nayax Ltd. says it will acquire Folsom, Calif.-based Retail Pro International in a $36.5-million deal. Expected to close in the fourth quarter, the deal will expand …

Last year, credit card issuers charged consumers more than $105 billion in interest and more than $25 billion in fees, $14.5 billion of which came from late fees, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s biennial credit card market report. Credit card holders paid about 20% of their average balance …

With potential regulation of credit card interchange looming and with the unwavering demand from merchants for lower card-acceptance costs, the possibility that interchange as it’s known today may dramatically change can’t be entirely dismissed—but don’t count on its demise. That was the conclusion at the Money 20/20 trade show this …

The Federal Reserve Board is set to revisit its longstanding limit on debit card interchange on Wednesday, and most observers expect the Fed to lower it. But ask Visa Inc. about the matter—as analysts did Tuesday afternoon during the network’s September-quarter earnings call—and its top executives outwardly at least profess …

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors will consider revisions to its cap on debit card swipe fees at its meeting next Wednesday. The announcement was made as part of a public notice about the upcoming board meeting. While no further details were provided about the Fed’s intentions, retailers made it …

Eric Cohen’s Commentary, “Whey the Credit Card Competition Act Falls Short,” posted here Oct. 9, makes three key claims about how the Credit Card Competition Act would supposedly harm small businesses and consumers. All of them are wrong.First, he says the bill would allow merchants “to choose their own network” …

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) looks to be headed for a vote before the end of the year, spurred in part by Sen. Dick Durbin’s recent urging that it be brought to the Senate floor. While the Illinois Senator is of the mind it will help increase industrywide competition …

A new lawsuit filed Thursday against PayPal Holdings Inc. alleges the online powerhouse uses illegally anticompetitive policies that increase costs for consumers. Filed by Hagens Berman, a law firm that specializes in class-action litigation, the suit contends that PayPal prohibits merchants that work with it to offer pricing discounts when …

The federal court overseeing a $5.54-billion settlement between millions of card-accepting merchants, on one hand, and Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., on the other, over interchange costs recently took several steps that ultimately could get payments out to merchants. But checks still won’t be in the mail for some time. …