Georgia has joined a small but growing number of states that have introduced legislation to ban the portion of credit and debit card transaction fees that apply to sales tax. The Georgia bill, introduced late last week by Georgia state senator Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro), proposes prohibiting the fees from being …
Read More »As Sellers’ Fees Rise, Satisfaction With Merchant Service Providers Declines, J.D. Power Finds
Merchant satisfaction with payment processors has dwindled in the past year, as sellers cope with the impact of inflation on their processing costs as well as on their business in general, according to J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study. The merchant satisfaction score for merchant-services providers totaled 853, …
Read More »Holiday Traffic Is off to a Strong Start Despite Inflationary Pressures
Despite consumer concerns over higher prices caused by inflation, spending for the holiday shopping season got off to a strong start over the weekend. Total retail sales in the United States, including in-store and e-commerce transactions but excluding the automotive sector, were up more than 12% on Black Friday from …
Read More »Backed by a Merchant Group, a TV Ad Pushes the Case for Controlling Credit Card Costs
A prominent merchant trade group on Thursday began running a TV commercial that uses Visa Inc.’s sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup to decry credit card acceptance fees and advocate for a bill backed by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., that would regulate those costs. The 30-second commercial, which lays heavy …
Read More »COMMENTARY: It’s Time to Fix Payments. Here’s How to Do It
As one who has spent an entire career working with community banks, credit unions, and merchants, I can say it’s abundantly clear how they all suffer from a broken payments system, with the Fed’s automated clearing house being the lone exception. While merchants and community banks don’t share the same …
Read More »Crypto Exchange FTX Announces an Internationally Focused Debit Card Branded by Visa
One of the ways cryptocurrency is becoming more familiar to consumers and merchants is through debit cards backed by crypto holdings. The latest development in this trend came to light early Friday with an announcement that the crypto exchange FTX.com will offer Visa-branded debit cards around the world. A launch …
Read More »OnShift And Payactive Eliminate Earned Wage Access Fees for Senior Care Workers
OnShift Inc., a provider of human-capital management software for caregivers, is dropping the fees for earned-wage access through its digital wallet. OnShift’s wallet runs on the Payactiv platform. As part of the new arrangement, senior care workers using the OnShift wallet can access a portion of their earned wages outside …
Read More »The Fed Makes It Final: All Issuers Must Offer a Choice of Unrelated Networks for All Debit
The Federal Reserve said late Monday it has completed work on a clarification that reinforces a more than decade-old requirement that issuers enable a choice of at least two competing networks for online debit card transactions. The release follows months of research and investigation by the Fed and will go …
Read More »Durbin Pushes to Attach His Credit Card Routing Proposal to a Senate Defense Bill
Indications emerged late last week that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has embarked on a strategy for his credit card routing bill that follows a path similar to one he forged a decade ago for his rules governing debit card routing. The veteran senator, along with co-sponsor Roger Marshall, R-Kan., have …
Read More »Four Trends Are Affecting U.S. Retail, a Checkout.com Report Finds
Everybody knows the U.S. retail arena is changing, but a new report from Checkout.com reveals that four trends, among them the growth in digital payments, currently are most affecting it. Rising prices, consumers seeking new shopping channels, and increased competitiveness are the other three trends altering the retail landscape. United …
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