Regulations & Policy

Let the credit card battle begin

Banks that issue credit cards and the retailers who hate their fees are lining up allies on Capitol Hill to fight over a new bill that calls for more competition in the industry. Visa and Mastercard are at the center of the conflict.

By Lynne Marek • Aug. 8, 2022

Visa, Mastercard react to Pornhub ruling

The two card companies took action against an advertising entity tangled up in a California lawsuit against the pornography website, which the plaintiff alleges illicitly posted images of her when she was a teenager.

By Lynne Marek • Aug. 5, 2022

FIS extends tie with Chargebacks911 to fight fraud

The partnership is aimed at arming merchants with digital tools to reduce chargebacks, cut costs and combat fraud.

By Jonathan Berr • Aug. 5, 2022

Will a swoon in valuations affect Block’s Afterpay?

Block acquired Afterpay for what was ultimately $13.9 billion in stock, but a string of fintechs writing down valuations in the face of economic pressures raises the possibility Block will be forced to do the same.

By Caitlin Mullen • Aug. 2, 2022

Legislation aimed at Visa, Mastercard lands

A new bill to curb Visa and Mastercard’s dominance of credit payments is likely to rev up a long-time battle between merchants and card companies.

By Lynne Marek • July 29, 2022

Card CEOs react to macroeconomic threats

Amid talk of a recession, executives with Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are keeping a close eye on inflation, consumer demand and unemployment levels.

By Caitlin Mullen , Lynne Marek • July 29, 2022

Durbin to lob bill at Visa, Mastercard

Sen. Dick Durbin is poised to make good on his long-time threat to further rein in the two big U.S. credit card companies Visa and Mastercard with legislation aimed at increasing competition.

By Lynne Marek • July 28, 2022

Grocery company Albertsons rolls out SNAP online payment

The company now offers the purchasing capability at five banners through its own platform as well as the Instacart app.

By Catherine Douglas Moran , Jeff Wells • July 25, 2022

Discover CEO pelted with queries over loan probe

Discover Financial Services CEO Roger Hochschild said executives at the company “hope” an internal investigation of its student loan practices concludes this year, as he side-stepped analyst queries on the subject.

By Caitlin Mullen • July 21, 2022

Deluxe payments business to overtake check-printing

The company is “transforming from a legacy check-printing company to a payments and data company," CEO Barry McCarthy said.

By Jonathan Berr • July 21, 2022

BNPL will evolve as providers tweak the model

“Challengers frequently believe BNPL 1.0 is what it is, and will not evolve,” writes Brian Shniderman, CEO of Opy, a U.S. subsidiary of Australian payments fintech Openpay. “But it can, and very recently, it has proven that it will.”

By Brian Shniderman • July 20, 2022

Feds crack down on improper payments

A federal government report released this week takes aim at the problem of fraudulent public benefit payments, which mushroomed to $281 billion for fiscal year 2021.

By Lynne Marek • July 20, 2022

ClassWallet signs string of new state contracts

Demand for ClassWallet’s education digital payments tools increased during the coronavirus pandemic, and that rise has continued this year in the company’s signing of new state contracts. 

By Jonathan Berr • July 19, 2022

Modern Treasury expands on demand, readies for FedNow

The company has more than doubled its headcount over the past year to meet demand for its payments software from clients like Marqeta and Gusto. Now, it plans more expansion for real-time services. 

By Jonathan Berr • July 18, 2022

CFPB's Chopra reminds payments players they're in his sights

In a blog post this week, the director reiterated that payments processors, credit card issuers and debt collectors are attracting scrutiny from his agency.

By Lynne Marek • July 14, 2022

FedNow chases real-time payments front-runners

The Federal Reserve plans to unleash a U.S. real-time payments system next year in the form of FedNow, but it’s an open question as to whether, or how, consumers and businesses will adopt instant payments.

By Lynne Marek • July 14, 2022

Venture dollars for fintech drop, again

Fintech companies raised $20.4 billion over 1,225 deals in the quarter, the lowest number of deals and funding since the fourth quarter of 2020.

By Jonathan Berr • July 13, 2022

Brainard urges more oversight of crypto

The Federal Reserve vice chair on Friday said the May collapse of the Terra stablecoin, which wiped out millions of dollars of value in a matter of days, was “reminiscent of classic runs throughout history.”

By Anna Hrushka • July 11, 2022

Mastercard reports consumer spending increase despite inflation

In-store spending in June rose 11.7% over last year while e-commerce sales grew at a slower 1.1% pace, excluding auto and gas expenditures, according to Mastercard.

By Jonathan Berr • July 11, 2022

LeafLink, Bespoke Financial push cannabis payments

LeafLink and Bespoke are building up their business in cannabis payments as their CEOs count on a rebound in prices for reefer.

By Jonathan Berr • July 8, 2022

Walmart lashes back at FTC over money-transfer lawsuit

In a fiery rebuttal to the Federal Trade Commission lawsuit last week, the nation’s biggest retailer is already doing battle in the court of public opinion.

By Lynne Marek • July 6, 2022

Don't abandon stablecoins over Terra, CFO says

Fintechs and financial services players will "be the driver of innovations and regulations that enable stablecoins, crypto and other digital assets to scale," argues Metallicus Chief Financial Officer Irina Berkon.

By Irina Berkon • July 6, 2022

Payactiv jettisons some fees in wake of CFPB move

The earned wage access provider said that it was eliminating some fees just as the federal agency decided to remove a prior order giving the company leeway under certain laws. 

By Jonathan Berr • July 5, 2022

Meta to shutter Novi digital currency project Sept. 1

The company’s website tells users how to withdraw funds and access transaction data that they’ll lose access to once the Novi pilot ends. Meta, however, said it plans to use Novi’s technology in future projects.

By Dan Ennis • July 5, 2022

CFPB terminates Payactiv's sandbox protection

The earned wage access provider told the CFPB last week it wanted to make changes to its fee model without review by the bureau. The bureau, in turn, expressed concern over potentially misleading public statements by Payactiv.

By Dan Ennis • July 1, 2022