The ranks of major retailers suing the bank card networks over interchange swelled by one today when Publix Super Markets Inc. announced it had filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Visa USA and MasterCard International. The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocery chain's suit alleges the practice of setting interchange by the two …

Special Report MasterCard Inc.'s proposed initial public stock offering would put 49% of the payment company's shares and more than 80% of the voting power in the hands of the public, potentially increasing the influence of aggrieved retailers who believe they currently get a raw deal in card pricing. MasterCard …

A top official for a trade association representing half of the gas-station operators in Colorado has written to Congress asking for regulation of credit card interchange fees. In a letter dated Aug. 15 and printed in today's online edition of the Rocky Mountain News, Roy A. Turner, executive vice president …

The booming business in gift and other stored-value cards, which represent an increasing share of sales for merchants of all sizes, is beginning to have an ominous side effect for online merchants: a hike in bad debt. The prepaid plastic, which carries a fixed value in cash and can benefit …

Despite an apparent willingness by the new chief executive of Visa U.S.A. to meet with merchant representatives on such thorny issues as interchange pricing, some observers say the bank card association's basic position toward the retailer community is unlikely to change. John Philip Coghlan, who took over yesterday as president …

Having recently agreed to standardize their protocols for transaction-data protection primarily at online merchants, the card networks are beginning to push for improved security of stored data at brick-and-mortar retail locations, as well. The move comes in the wake of alarming breaches of card-transaction data at physical retail stores, including …

The Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to mandate zero interchange for debit card transactions at the point of sale linked to personal identification numbers in that country, according to a report in The Age, an Australian news service. This action if taken would follow the Australian central bank's decision …

Steven Velasquez, Senior Vice President and Head of Partner Business Development – U.S. Bank | Elavon With retail sales predictions clocking in at $1.59 trillion for this year’s holiday season[i], it’s a good time to reflect on how you can support and help your merchants meet this demand while maximizing …

Consumers will spend a record $650 per person during Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping events, a 15% increase from last year, according to a study from Deloitte. During the Black Friday-Cyber Monday period, 56% of consumers say they plan to spend more than half their holiday shopping budgets, compared to 47% …

Delivery-services provider DoorDash is bringing in-app gift card shopping to its app. Launching Friday, the new service relies on gift card specialist InComm Payments. Announced Monday, the service creates a digital gift card mall in the app, Incomm says. Consumers will be able to order physical gift cards from participating …