Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• A status conference in the massive credit card interchange case known as MDL 1720 is set for Thursday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the wake of the $5.7 billion settlement in the case being overturned by an appellate court June 30. The case is returning to the lower court for consideration of numerous issues, including the appointment of new counsel to represent a group of merchant class plaintiffs whom the appellate court said had been inadequately represented, as well as the handling of associated lawsuits by merchants that opted out of the settlement.
• Payment card producer Oberthur Technologies said its new X-Press Solution service offers card issuers expedited production of EMV cards, just five days, on orders of up to 25,000 units.
• The ATM Industry Association has re-released a report on the impact on the industry of the U.S. Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point. The report was originally released in June and is now available to non-members of ATMIA.
• The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) quietly withdrew a proposed regulation to require reporting of cross-border movements of $10,000 or more on prepaid cards, a measure intended to thwart money laundering, after the prepaid card industry protested that the measure would hurt their business and the poor, Reuters reported. FinCEN plans to propose a revised rule, possibly next year.
• USA Technologies Inc. reported that transactions on cards and mobile wallets like Android Pay and Apple Pay now account for 32% of sales at vending machines operated by Coastal Canteen Vending and Food Services Inc. USAT is upgrading Coastal Canteen’s 1,500 machines to accept non-cash payments.
• Square Inc. said it is making loans through its Square Capital program available to restaurateurs using Upserve, a payments processor and technology provider for restaurants. The move represents the first time Square Capital funding has been made available outside of Square’s roster of processing clients.
• Payments technology provider Acculynk Inc. said it added international remittance capabilities to its Payzur person-to-person payments service; the service will be rolled out first with India and the Philippines, with China, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil coming later.
• Students from China studying at U.S. schools can pay tuition and other fees on their own MasterCard cards using an online portal operated by payments provider Plastiq, with currency conversion handled by processor Planet Payment.
