Merchants have complained for years that they pay too much for debit card acceptance. Late last week, they took their beef to the federal courts with a lawsuit alleging a ceiling set on debit card fees a decade ago by the Federal Reserve is too...
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U.S. retail sales had another month of double-digit growth in April, according to a press release from Mastercard. Mastercard SpendPulse, which looks at retail growth in stores and online, found that U.S. retail sales, excluding gas and automotive, had increased 23.3 percent year over year, the...
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The average charge-off rates for six of the biggest U.S. bank credit card issuers fell 5 basis points to 1.95% in March compared to February, according to a report from S&P Global Market Intelligence. While the average rate zig-zagged during the COVID-19 pandemic, there...
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Apparel stores are seeing more demand now as people start to go out more often, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday (May 2). The demand comes at the junction of numerous events, including more social events opening up, vaccines expanding in the U.S. and offices reopening,...
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The pace of electronic payments jumped last year at a faster pace than the year before as top banks sent more payments than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 26.8 billion transactions worth $61.9 trillion, according to Nacha’s annual report. In total, the top...
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By Lynne Marek | PaymentsDive Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin was riled up when he leaned into his microphone to speak last month at an antitrust subcommittee hearing. The source of his consternation? The dominance of Visa and Mastercard. Durbin, a Democrat, recounted how he had walked...
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How we pay for things and services that we need has evolved over the years. First there was trade and then cash. Now we have a heavy reliance on cashless transactions. Contactless payments, with all their benefits, seem like the most likely successor. So, what are...
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Brick-and-mortar stores took a big hit during the pandemic, but the big casualties were bad retailers, not those that took advantage of “stay at home consumers,” by inventing ways to make online buying seamless and yes, even positive experiences. That’s according to a recent book by...
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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark bill aimed at easing restrictions placed on the cannabis industry. The SAFE ACT (Secure and Fair Enforcement) banking act provides safe harbor for financial institutions to work with cannabis operators. If passed by the Senate and approved...
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The cross-currents around the pandemic and the impending recovery continue to swirl. As of April 17, 85 million Americans had been vaccinated. Yet, new strains of the virus and anti-vaxx protests have put some states smack in the middle of the pandemic including North and...
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