Merchant

In the race to deploy digital payments technology, small businesses have an opportunity to level the playing field with larger companies and better meet the demands of today’s consumers.

The FTC has provided its Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Report to the CFPB on enforcement and related activities regarding key industry regulations.

Square's partnership with Apple to enable small merchants to accept Apple Pay is just one blip in Apple's overall strategy, but for Square it's a fundamental rethinking of its approach to its audience.

The sheriff of Wall Street is moving on — much to the elation of the financial services sector. Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, is departing from his position this June. But he is likely to leave a lasting impression on the culture and mission of the department.

Debt collector James A. Havassy and his company, Hamilton Law Group, are defendants in a lawsuit alleging they intimidated family members into paying medical bills.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined RPM Mortgage and CEO Rob Hirt $20 million for illegally paying bonuses and higher commissions to loan agents to lead people into more expensive loans. Hirt said the company did nothing wrong.

Merchants face a confusing onslaught of terminal updates, encryption, tokenization and EMV, placing organizations like the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) in the role of trying to make sense of the changes.

We already know that American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa are on board with Android Pay. MasterCard has mooted its launch date to be ‘in the coming months.' So, the global support network is in place, but broader questions remain: Will it take on Apple Pay? How will it compare, or even compete, with Samsung’s offering?

Apple Pay's launch was seen as so bank-focused that some retailers griped or outright rebelled against the Apple mobile wallet. But today, Apple made a major peace offering to the merchant community — and it's working with Square to make that happen.

Amazon.com Inc. built a Web- retailing empire by persuading consumers to pay for books, electronics and other merchandise online. Now it's targeting the next generation of shoppers.