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 …

Interchange regulation is one step closer to reality after the U.S. Senate late on Thursday approved an amendment that would require the Federal Reserve to determine “reasonable and proportional” transaction fees for debit cards. Banks earn an estimated $15 billion annually from debit card interchange fees. The Senate approved the …

We know you’re not looking for problems. But they are looking for you. Herewith our annual catalog of the ones causing the most headaches. Each year in the fall, as the grass turns brown and the trees shed their leaves, the editors of Digital Transactions start their deliberations over an …

Reaction from the payments industry to the Justice Department’s announcement Tuesday that it is suing Visa Inc. over antitrust issues involving its debit card business was swift and pointed. As expected, representatives of the payments industry denounced the lawsuit as baseless, while representatives of the merchant community and legislators friendly …

The U.S. Department of Justice’s 71-page complaint accusing Visa Inc. of monopolizing U.S. debit networks goes into great detail about the company’s pricing strategies and attempts to get merchants and card issuers to direct their debit business toward Visa. Those efforts have been quite successful. Referring to Visa’s so-called “moat” …

Adyen NV early Monday began launching what its calls an intelligent-routing service for debit cards intended to reduce merchants’ debit-acceptance costs and increase authorizations for purchases. The service, which enables Adyen to choose which network to route transactions over, was developed primarily in response to the Federal Reserve’s 2023 statement …

With cash back as a favored consumer reward, PayPal Holdings Inc. is broadening its use with the debut of PayPal Everywhere, a rewards program for consumers on the PayPal Debit Mastercard. Announced Thursday, the program includes stackable cash-back offers and personalized ways to manage spending. It enables PayPal Debit cardholders …

The bill may look sensible on the surface. But it’s a mistake to try conjuring up competition by diktat. Since his unsuccessful efforts in 2008 and 2009 to impose price controls on merchants’ card-acceptance costs, longtime payments-industry nemesis Sen. Ricard Durbin, D-Ill., has been on a crusade to gut the …

Decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court are supposed to settle matters, but a verdict the high court delivered early Monday has the potential to stir up debit card pricing questions for some time to come, some observers say. The justices, in a 6-3 decision, ruled a case brought by a …

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt shut down financial institutions for a week, called a “bank holiday,” to restore calm after a run on banks. This comes to mind after a federal judge recently indicated she won’t approve a settlement between the major card brands and merchants over the fees that …