It’s back to the future, and in many cases higher merchant-acceptance costs for transactions at or under $15, with the bank card networks’ new debit card interchange schedules that will take effect Saturday. That’s the same date that regulated interchange pricing under the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank …

  Newspapers, television, and the Web are full of bleak assessments about the U.S. economy, but you wouldn’t know that from the latest financial and operating results reported by Discover Financial Services, the credit card issuer and student-loan provider that’s also the fourth-largest general-purpose credit card network. Discover card sales …

  n Some 41% of card-not-present merchants responding to the survey at the Direct Response Forum’s annual conference earlier this month said they do not intend to pass on lower debit card costs to consumers, according to results announced on Thursday by the DRF. Fully 56% said they don’t know …

  John Stewart and Jim Daly   The Fed’s Durbin-inspired debit regulation is already radically reshaping the business for merchants, issuers, acquirers, and networks. Here’s how.       Well, it’s all over but the shouting. And, with the ink dry now for more than two months, there isn’t even …

  By Karen Epper Hoffman   A fixture in online gaming, virtual currencies are moving into other digital markets and may break into the physical world. But will acceptance costs and regulatory concerns stymie their growth?       Virtual currency has long been seen as little more than the …

One week after announcing it is testing dual-message PIN debit, the Shazam debit network said on Tuesday it will introduce later this year a product that will let merchants accept PIN debit transactions on smart phones. The product, developed by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based authentication-technology vendor Adaptive Payments, comes as networks …

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Banks are likely to continue testing debit card usage fees in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s new price controls on debit interchange, though such fees are generating heated debate about whether they make good business sense. “Disincenting consumers to use debit cards I just think is a terrible strategy …

  n In a related move, Shazam is also testing applications written for both the iPhone and Android mobile operating systems that will let store staffers move away from checkout counters and use mobile devices to complete PIN-debit transactions anywhere on the sales floor. These apps will also become available …

  Looking to capitalize on opportunities fostered by recently created debit card regulation, Lexcel Solutions Inc. on Thursday announced an update to its network-testing software that is aimed at streamlining debit card issuers’ selection of new networks as mandated by the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s June 29 final rule implementing …