Given new government rules on payment processing, giants like Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo would benefit immensely from acquiring proprietary debit card networks. Why they haven't done so already is a mystery.

The "exorbitant privilege" the U.S. has long enjoyed because of the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency would be supercharged if global adoption of stablecoins leads to greatly increased demand.

A recent court ruling found that the Federal Reserve had grossly overstepped in its implementation of the Durbin Amendment. The resulting changes to interchange fees will dramatically shift the debit card landscape.

The president's rush to weaponize trade policy is going to accelerate efforts by other countries to decrease their reliance on U.S.-based payments processors. That's not in the country's interest.

The Department of Justice is trying to fix a system that isn't broken. The better move would be to allow the ruthlessly competitive payments marketplace to generate new and better products.

The state's ill-conceived law banning interchange fees on sales tax and gratuities will be burdensome and expensive to implement and could portend a patchwork of state-level copycat legislation that would balkanize the payments system.

Micromanaging the terms under which payment networks are willing to process debit-card transactions is bad for both businesses and consumers. Congress has the power to roll back intrusive regulations.

The central bank is merely an instrument of Congress when it comes to setting card interchange fees. Only by making lawmakers feel the heat will the industry see meaningful change.

Like a ratchet, price controls in the payments industry move only one way, destroying value and reducing incentives for innovation.

Government-operated payment systems aren't necessary and reduce choice, competition, innovation and value for consumers, businesses and banks.