Consumers and merchants may be primed for it. New technology, consumer affinity for digital payments, and the allure of cheaper payment processing may be setting the stage for broader use of pay by bank in the United States. Paying by a bank account is not unfamiliar to most consumers. Already, …

The Biden administration dashes ahead with an interdepartmental effort to design a digital dollar, following the European Union and China, which are very excited about the tight surveillance power given to government through the emerging technology of digital money. The U.S. effort, which was kicked off by a presidential executive …

Despite some claims to the contrary, the odds are long that merchants would pass on any potential savings to consumers from the Credit Card Competition Act, payments experts say. One argument for this is that merchants price products on a line-item basis, which means the savings on a single product …

A trade group representing card networks and issuers is taking aim at restaurant surcharges and price increases by large grocers as part of its efforts to defeat the Credit Card Competition Act. The Electronic Payments Coalition earlier this spring fired its first salvo in its new campaign against the CCCA. …

Visa Inc. said early Thursday it has joined a network of service providers maintained by Amazon.com Inc. The e-commerce giant’s AWS Partner Network will enable Visa to reach new clients for its payment services, particularly fintechs and independent software vendors (ISVs) accustomed to operating through cloud computing, Visa said. The …

(Editor’s note: This is Part II of a two-part article. Part I appeared Thursday.) Interchange fees paid by merchants are the credit card industry’s second-largest revenue source. For debit cards and neobanks, these fees are a primary revenue source. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act imposed price controls on debit interchange fees …

As restaurants turn to surcharging and dynamic pricing to offset rising operating costs, consumer backlash is raising concerns the practice could negatively affect customer loyalty and ultimately, restaurant profits. The backlash comes hard on the heels of the Electronic Payments Coalition’s attacks on restaurant surcharges and other price increases. The …

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. …

In the heart of America’s bustling commerce, a subtle yet powerful revolution is unfolding, driven by small merchants. The strategies of offering discounts for cash payments and imposing surcharges for card transactions are at the forefront of this change. These practices, rapidly gaining traction across communities, directly challenge the entrenched …

Card-acceptance costs and network rules weren’t the only subjects covered by the sweeping settlement revealed Tuesday involving Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and lawyers for the merchants that sued them. The pending agreement, which needs approval from a federal judge, allows for the creation of so-called merchant buying groups that would …