The U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents Tuesday that move toward completion its challenge of Visa and MasterCard network rules limiting merchants’ ability to steer customer payments toward their preferred forms. Tuesday’s action is largely procedural as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. announced settlements when the DoJ and seven …

With the judge in the massive credit card interchange litigation apparently insisting on a trial, a new and unsettling element of uncertainty now hangs over the nearly 20-year-old case, in which merchants allege anti-competitive behavior by the big credit card networks in setting interchange fees. The latest development emerged in …

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 …

With the judge in the massive credit card interchange litigation apparently insisting on a trial, a new and unsettling element of uncertainty now hangs over the nearly 20-year-old case, in which merchants allege anti-competitive behavior by the big credit card networks in setting interchange fees. The latest development comes nearly …

The transaction-cost savings and tender steering provided for in the big interchange settlement reached earlier this week will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually for major merchants and the big mobile-wallet providers, according to estimates provided to Digital Transactions News by San Carlos, Calif.-based payments researcher Crone Consulting. …

Apple Inc. will let developers enable purchases outside of its App Store, marking a change that previously prohibited such action. The move comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court this week declining to hear appeals from either Apple or Epic Games in their court saga. Epic sued Apple …

A new lawsuit filed Thursday against PayPal Holdings Inc. alleges the online powerhouse uses illegally anticompetitive policies that increase costs for consumers. Filed by Hagens Berman, a law firm that specializes in class-action litigation, the suit contends that PayPal prohibits merchants that work with it to offer pricing discounts when …

After years of a relatively light touch, federal regulators are turning the Klieg lights on the payment industry. In some cases, their approach has been opaque, which is creating concerns that could stifle innovation. There’s an old adage inside the Beltway that says, “People Are Policy.” Since entering the Oval …

Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive of Shift4 Payments Inc. and an experienced pilot, will command Inspiration4, the world’s first civilian space flight, scheduled for the fourth quarter and mounted in collaboration with SpaceX. Isaacman is also donating $100 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which will have two …

Little by little and step by step, merchants have been taking tighter control over their payments businesses. No longer merely the endpoint in a cardholder’s lifecycle, merchants are leveraging fintech in ways not possible just a few short years ago. This is why we’re seeing the big fintech-centric acquirers like …