On Saturday, a final rule issued in October by the Federal Reserve goes into effect, requiring that all issuers offer a choice of at least two networks for routing online debit card transactions. The update, derived from the 2010 Durbin Amendment, has been a bone of contention for years between merchants and issuers. …

Merchant losses from online payment fraud globally will total more than $362 billion in the years from 2023 to 2028, according to a forecast from Juniper Research. So-called swipe fees on credit card transactions will increase Fourth of July costs for U.S. consumers by more than $500 million, according to the Merchants Payments …

The Credit Card Competition Act is making a comeback, this time with more bipartisan support. The bill, originally launched last summer by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan,), is expected to be reintroduced in the Senate, apparently with few changes, as early as this week, according to an …

The number of reported data compromises totaled 445 in the first quarter, a 13% decrease from the previous quarter, according to the latest report from the Identity Theft Resource Center. The number of victims decreased 64% in the same period. Health care breaches, at 81, led the quarter followed by financial services …

In a major case whose effects could ripple widely across the payments industry, Block Inc. has sued Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., alleging the global networks worked together to fix interchange fees paid by Block’s Square operation. Square, which processes card transactions for millions of mostly small sellers, pays interchange …

As industry lobbyists prepare to converge on Capitol Hill next week, payments interest groups are issuing salvos designed to move the argument over limits on credit card acceptance costs in their favor. One such advance move came Thursday with an email campaign launched by the Electronic Payments Coalition citing a …

Industry opinions are mixed regarding a move by banking trade groups to plead for more time to act on a ruling issued in October by the Federal Reserve. The ruling orders all banks to comply by July 1 with an 11-year-old requirement that merchants have a choice of at least …

Georgia has joined a small but growing number of states that have introduced legislation to ban the portion of credit and debit card transaction fees that apply to sales tax. The Georgia bill, introduced late last week by Georgia state senator Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro), proposes prohibiting the fees from being …

A bill designed to allow merchants to have a choice of networks for routing credit card transactions failed to pass last year, but now international tensions could affect the proposed law’s prospects in the new Congress. The bill, called the Credit Card Competition Act, would mandate that merchants have a …

Will Durbin II rise again, bringing joy to merchants but grief to credit card issuers? Potentially, more than $10 billion could be in play if routing choice becomes law. Credit card issuers dodged a bullet in late 2022 with the failure of the Credit Card Competition Act to pass the …