European Union

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. ended nearly two decades of European Union antitrust scrutiny with a pact that requires them to reduce fees for foreigners shopping in the region.

Silicon Valley, New York, London and several of China’s largest cities are the world’s leading fintech hubs, but many other locales are gunning for their crown.

With the U.K. government still at stalemate over Brexit, the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal remains a very real possibility. Despite some recent agreements, this could have major implications for the U.K. payments industry.

Because various aspects of the General Data Protection Regulation were made public two years before they became official law, European lawmakers naturally felt it gave companies plenty of time to get data security compliance in place. But it appears most companies either lost track of time or haven't solved the compliance puzzle yet.

The new Apple Card wasn't just one product of many announced at the Steve Jobs Theater on Monday — it was the glue that binds all of Apple's new services together.

In addition to conducting monetary policy and regulating banks, that the EU’s central bank should try to “drive innovation” in payments, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

A new regulation in the Golden State could provide a de facto national standard as Congress continues to stall on data breach legislation.

While payments firms must navigate political and regulatory waters, consumers and merchants are best served by a competitive free market free of politics, with minimalist regulators playing the role of the night watchman, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

The European Union drew a rebuke from the U.S. for including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other overseas territories on a blacklist of 23 jurisdictions posing higher risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

EU states such as Belgium, Lithuania and Ireland are offering e-money institution, payments institution or banking licenses to fintechs, which can be passported across Europe, in anticipation of the U.K. losing its ability to do so after Brexit. But there is no cross-border deposit protection for European consumers holding accounts at EU banks with passported licenses.