While the two global payments networks have been embroiled in a controversy over merchant debit card fees in the U.S. market, they also face trouble in the United Kingdom over an even bigger issue: credit card interchange fees. That fact was thrown into relief early Thursday when Reuters reported the …
Read More »PayPal Ups the Ante in Buy Now, Pay Later By Dropping Late Fees
With the popularity of the buy now, pay later alternative growing, especially for online purchases, PayPal Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday it will no longer charge late fees for missed payments on its installment products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, effective Oct. 1. PayPal has already eliminated …
Read More »The DoJ Supports the Fed’s Debit-Routing Proposal, But Would Like to See it Toughened
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday lent its weight to a proposed rule from the Federal Reserve Board that would reinforce merchants’ choice of networks for e-commerce transactions arising from debit cards. At the same time, it suggested the rule could be made more stringent. Justice’s support for the …
Read More »Merchants Redouble Their Efforts to Push the Fed on Debit’s Routing And Pricing Rules
With a Federal Reserve deadline hitting Wednesday for comments on decade-old debit card regulations, large merchants are firing some last-minute salvos in hopes of influencing the Fed to make major revisions to rules governing transaction routing and pricing. “[M]ajor banks and networks continue to interfere with competition for debit business,” …
Read More »With Rate Increases Looming, a Processor Aims to Wean Auto Shops off of Credit Cards
With credit card acceptance rates expected to rise next spring, payments-technology firms are starting to launch services for merchants that they say will soften the blow. The latest comes in the automobile-repair industry with an announcement Tuesday by Facepay Inc. of general availability of a service aimed at replacing credit …
Read More »Apple Cash Adds Mastercard Debit Support and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/6/21
Apple Inc. said Apple Cash users can now send Instant Transfer payments to Mastercard Inc. debit cards, reported 9to5mac.com. The service had been compatible only with Visa Inc. debit cards prior to Thursday’s announcement. Apple also said it is charging a 1.5% fee for Instant Transfer transactions, up from 1%. Instant Transfer …
Read More »Mastercard Outlines a Strong Quarter As It Pursues Strategies in Crypto, 5G, And Open Banking
As they have for rival Visa Inc., transaction volumes are continuing to improve for Mastercard Inc. as world commerce stages its recovery from the impact of the pandemic. “The strong momentum we started the year with accelerated this quarter,” chief executive Michael Miebach said Thursday morning during a session with …
Read More »PayPal’s CEO Promises an ‘Aggressive’ Play for Merchant Business in the Wake of New Pricing
PayPal’s boss made a declaration Wednesday afternoon that may have been as much a warning to incumbent merchant acquirers as it was a promise to storefront merchants. Referring to PayPal’s new transaction pricing schedule, expected to go into effect Aug. 2, chief executive Dan Schulman made it clear PayPal will …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Could PayPal’s Latest Fee Boost Make It the Merchant Lobby’s Next Target?
The yin and yang of political, and ferociously commercial, PayPal was vividly on display with its announcement last month of a massive price hike. The e-commerce phenom attaches itself to an array of woke causes but remains a wonderfully hard-nosed commercial enterprise, keen to be fully compensated for the enormous value …
Read More »Jumping on the Contactless Trend, Intuit Tries Again to Penetrate the POS Market
Sensing that consumers’ growing preference for contactless-payments options will be permanent, Intuit Inc. on Thursday introduced its QuickBooks Card Reader for small businesses. The terminal, which integrates with QuickBooks Payments, supports what Intuit calls smart-tipping functionality. Businesses can customize three tipping options that are displayed on the card reader as …
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