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The so-called Durbin Amendment that soon will be law could cut Bank of America Corp.’s debit card revenues by up to nearly 80%, the nation’s largest debit card issuer estimates. Two major prepaid card processors that are planning IPOs and rely on growing interchange income, however, seem likely to escape …

The concept of allowing consumers to use debit cards with PINs to make purchases on the Web took a big step forward on Wednesday with the Pulse electronic funds transfer network’s announcement that it is rolling out an online PIN-debit service. With some 4,400 member financial institutions, Houston-based Pulse, which …

Speculation has flowed freely about the effects of the controversial “Durbin amendment” on merchants, card issuers, and the payment card networks should the interchange-regulation measure become law. But data about how consumers would be affected are scarce. Javelin Strategy and Research, however, says research it conducted late last year, in …

PayPal Inc. has introduced a capability for its new Adaptive Payments service that lets consumers pay merchants with a credit card while within an application, regardless whether the consumer has a PayPal account. The San Jose, Calif.-based e-commerce processor also announced late last week it is delaying until the fourth …

In a move that could have a bottom-line impact for an untold number of independent sales organizations, First Data Corp. is sending letters to client ISOs notifying them they owe fees to the Atlanta-based processing giant to compensate for shortfalls in processing volumes. While it’s not clear how many such …

While a compromise hammered out on Monday moderates some of the impact of the so-called Durbin Amendment, at least one payments expert has no doubt who emerges as the winners of this latest parliamentary maneuvering: merchants. Indeed, despite some concessions, banks are still likely to see considerable erosion of the …

Even though a policy change PayPal Inc. announced late last week will dramatically increase some online merchants’ acceptance costs for American Express transactions, their overall costs may remain flat or possibly decline, if the experience of one online retailer is any guide. “There’s at least a good chance it’s not …

Debit cards are more popular than ever, but issuers see threats to the bottom line from rising fraud and more regulation. Loss rates rose 43% on signature debit cards and 24% for PIN-debit cards in 2009, according to the Pulse EFT network’s fifth-annual survey of the debit market. Meanwhile, issuers …

Sen. Richard Durbin chastised the card industry for what he called its refusal to negotiate interchange rates in a hearing held on Wednesday to investigate the fees federal agencies pay to accept cards. Sponsor of a controversial amendment that would regulate interchange fees for debit cards, Durbin also revealed during …

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin is chastising small banks and credit unions for not liking his debit card interchange regulation proposal, and Visa Inc. claims consumers strongly oppose legislation that would raise their costs or reduce their cards’ utility. These developments emerged as the House of Representatives and the Senate begin …