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• Supreme Court denies merchants' petition for lower debit card processing fees

  • Interchange Litigation

  January 22, 2015

  

  In 2011, the Federal Reserve was accused of ignoring the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act when it established a debit card swiping fee of 21 cents per transaction, a cap that they claimed was allowed by the amendment's ambiguous language. On the other side of that debate, merchants argued that that cap was far beyond what was originally intended by Dodd-Frank, with a U.S. district court ruling in their favor in the summer of 2013. But as we shared with you last year, that ruling was then overturned by an appellate court, stating the legislation, albeit "poorly drafted," still entitled the Fed to the merchant interchange fees it had set for debit card swipes

  That setback prompted merchants to file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the high court to take up its … more

• Global mobile payments to surpass $130 billion by 2020

  • Mobile Commerce

  January 22, 2015

  

  Technologies such as Apple Pay are driving increased adoption of NFC-based mobile payments, and the industry is expected to grow significantly over the course of the next few years. According to a report from Strategy Analytics, the NFC mobile payment market will exceed $130 billion by 2020. 

  This is encouraging news for an industry that took longer than initially expected to get off the ground. For years, there was talk that Apple's iPhone would contain the NFC technology needed to facilitate mobile payments at retail stores and restaurants, but it was only this year when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus came out that the technology was finally included in the popular line of smartphones. Now that NFC is becoming more mainstream, it's expected to only grow exponentially over … more

• Google sues MasterCard, Visa for allegedly high merchant interchange fees

  • Interchange Litigation

  January 14, 2015

  

  Google has slammed MasterCard and Visa with a new federal lawsuit, accusing the credit card companies of excessively high and "supracompetitive" merchant interchange fees.

  The complaint alleges that from January 1, 2004, to November 28, 2012, Google was forced to pay a merchant interchange rate considerably higher than "what a competitive market would allow" whenever it accepted payments from MasterCard or Visa cardholders. The tech giant accuses the credit card providers of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act with its merchant service rates.

  A class action lawsuit had previously been filed against both MasterCard and Visa over debit and credit card merchant fees. That case ended with a settlement of $7.25 billion that was then divided up among the plaintiffs who were forced to pay … more

• January marks the start of PCI version 3.0

  • PCI Compliance

  January 09, 2015

  

  Companies that rely on credit card merchant services must be compliant with a new set of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards in 2015. Effective this month, version 3.0 will replace the previous set of standards, in an effort to enhance security and protect personal data for consumers. 

  PCI updates its standards every three years, as advances in technology and new vulnerabilities emerge, to make the industry more airtight to breaches. Experts say that while becoming compliant with new PCI directives might cause headaches in the short term, it will benefit companies and their customers in the long run. 

  "It's also a response to events that have taken place since the last DSS version, like the numerous security breaches and mass credit card data thefts that … more

• How will merchants balance acceptance and costs in 2015?

  • Mobile Commerce

  January 04, 2015

  

  As merchants look ahead to a new year, now is the time to project how their role will evolve in 2015 and beyond. Technology will continue to advance well into the new year, which will provide merchants with opportunities to process payments in new and innovative ways. Of course, not every merchant is on board with new payment methods that utilize different tools like mobile phones and tablets, but increased adoption is going to be a major story in 2015. In fact, one publication has gone as far as saying this will be the most pressing issue in the merchant community next year, and it may result in other needs taking a back seat.

  There is nothing more frustrating as a consumer than getting to the front of the checkout line only to realize they do not accept your preferred method of … more

by Ty Hardison

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