n It also raises as many questions as it answers. n He refrained from speculating on what changes might be made, but the panel agreed the Fed’s room for maneuver is constrained by Congress. The Fed’s rule implements the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, passed by Congress last …

While the payments industry awaits stringent new rules concerning debit card transactions, some processors and technology players are starting to exploit what they see as opportunities in the new regulations. Acculynk Inc., for example, released last week a statement calling on Internet merchants to sign up now for online PIN …

  With issuers and program managers having come under fire in recent months for allegedly high and numerous consumer fees for prepaid products, American Express Co. on Tuesday launched a reloadable prepaid card that levies no activation or maintenance fees. It also charges no reload fee when value is loaded …

Cash: the merchant’s friend or foe? Two of the nation’s largest merchants on Thursday expressed surprisingly favorable views about the ancient payment method while an executive with the Chicago Transit Authority, the nation’s second-largest public-transportation system, wished it would go away as soon as possible. The comments came during the …

Banks are likely to become much more active as issuers of reloadable prepaid cards in response to new regulations that are making traditional bank accounts more expensive for consumers, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. “There’s an opportunity for banks to use prepaid as an account-replacement …

Regulatory pressures, the public’s lack of awareness of prepaid cards, and negative publicity from consumer groups and the media are weighing on prepaid card executives’ minds, according to new findings from Aite Group LLC. Researchers from Boston-based Aite polled 24 senior executives during March’s Prepaid Expo USA conference in Orlando, …

American Express Co. on Monday launched Serve, a multifaceted online and offline payment system centered on a digital account and reloadable prepaid card that facilitate person-to-person payments as well as physical, online, and mobile purchases. AmEx says a key advantage of the digital account is that it is funding-agnostic, meaning …

As debit card issuers move to impose new fees or trim back rewards in response to looming federal restrictions on interchange income, they may be ignoring an opportunity to recover as much as half of that interchange without levying a single new fee. That’s according to research released this week …

Can the fast pace of innovation  that has characterized the prepaid card  sector in recent years continue  as lawmakers and regulators  increasingly target the business? By Linda Punch After years of skirting the edges of the industry, the prepaid card market finally is getting a toehold in the mainstream of …

Banking processor Fiserv Inc. announced a trio of acquisitions in a 24-hour period that included picking up Atlanta-based mobile-banking technology provider Mobile Commerce Ltd., known as M-Com.  Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv also announced it is acquiring Maverick Network Solutions Inc., a Wilmington, Del.-based prepaid card processor, and Credit Union On-Line Inc., …