Lauri Giesen

As is often the case, it is the guys in the middle that get squeezed the hardest. That seems to be the case with regard to recent changes in Visa USA's chargeback-monitoring program, which is expected to have its greatest effect on Internet merchants.

To those who think gift cards and similar consumer-directed stored-valued cards are a hot commodity, you ain't seen nothing yet. Keep an eye on payroll cards and other stored-value cards used in the work place.

Sometimes when predictions finally come true, the result is a lot different from what anyone had expected.