Visa

Merchants prevailed in a long-running legal battle with Visa and Mastercard in the U.K. over whether interchange fees the payment card networks charged for years in Britain were anticompetitive, which could increase scrutiny on U.S. card interchange rates.

Digital technology and the coronavirus recovery will dramatically alter payments in the year ahead, but the scale and benefits of networks will survive, Eric Grover of Intrepid Ventures contends.

Payments processors are keeping a portion of payments as a reserve against potential disputes between cardholders and merchants. Small-business owners say the practice is eating into their profits.

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to the ongoing expansion of workers’ access to early, or earned wages (EWA) through advances and instant payouts, including to new types of users.

The coronavirus lockdown could provide the opportunity for parent-controlled payment cards or mobile apps for children to gain traction after a wobbly past in terms of consumer adoption.

Visa Inc. Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said he expects a majority of the firm’s employees will continue working remotely through the end of the year.

In line with the other major card brands, Mastercard is extending its EMV liability shift at gas pumps to April 2021. It is also launching a data-driven fraud protection tool for fuel merchants who have not completed their upgrade to chip-card EMV pumps.

The U.S. Patent office published a Visa patent application to create a technology gateway that could allow central bank currencies for any nation to be digitized.

Oxygen helps customers obtain business licenses and separate their personal and business lives. Its says its services will be in demand as the pandemic accelerates a shift away from traditional jobs.

Tokenization and buy buttons began, in part, as ways to calm the security concerns of online shoppers who were wary of moving away from plastic. They’re now becoming a way to keep a health and economic crisis from turning into a security problem as in-store checkout quickly gives way to apps and websites.