Mark Horwedel

The unfortunate reality for merchants and their customers is that swipe fees have continued to increase because the payment card market is broken, says payments consultant Mark Horwedel.

Banks don't compete with each other enough to effectively lead the move to faster payments in the U.S., argues CMSPI's Mark Horwedel.

An initiative by Visa and Lloyds doesn't go far enough and is counterintuitive to the card network's move to reduce cash, argues Mark Horwedel, a strategic consultant to CMSPI.

When offered in a fair and transparent manner, DCC provides real value and benefit to both the cardholder and the merchant striving for new ways to remove friction and improve their customer service experience, writes Mark Horwedel, CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group.

Banking lobbies are still opposed to the Durbin Amendment, which would hurt a free market, writes Mark Horwedel, CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group.

Cash and checks are still the most transparent and predictable form of payment for grocers, writes Mark Horwedel, CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group.

Evidence exists that in most markets in which public regulators oversaw EMV implementations, the results were much better for merchants and consumers.

I’d like to suggest there is one more bubble which has yet to be called out, but is nevertheless pretty obvious to a handful of payments professionals who don’t practice the art of denial or are not paid to cover up the obvious symptoms. It’s the payments bubble.

The Electronic Payments Coalition's arguments supporting Visa in its legal battle with Walmart are not based in fact.

We have been clear from the start that the date fixed by the card networks for liability shift was far too aggressive and essentially resulted in a Christmas present to card issuers.