Merchant

Legislation in Minnesota designed to restrict the payday loan industry fell short Friday of winning final approval in the Minnesota Senate, meaning advocates of reform will have to wait until next year.

U.S. student loan debt rose to a record $1.2 trillion for the first quarter ended March 31, following a $31 billion jump, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported.

Groupon Inc. is expanding its in-store payments business with a new service that lets merchants identify customers with the company's coupons and enable them to pay for purchases using Apple Inc.'s iPad mini.

Square has added and removed many features over its few short years as it refines its mobile-pay pitch in an effort to win more merchants. Its removal of the Square Wallet app was the latest of many revisions to the company's strategy.

U.S. banks and other companies may already be closer to EMV compliance than they realize, says Mansour Karimzadeh, managing director and chief technology officer of payment consultant and technology company SCIL.

TransUnion attributes the improved delinquency and debt rates to consumers paying off charges made during the holiday season as well as consumers using their tax refunds to pay off debts.

Six U.S. senators sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week pushing the agency to take action to protect consumers from predatory storefront and online payday lenders.

A private and public partnership to recover taxpayers’ debt is an efficient alternative to prevent government program cuts or tax increases to make up for losses, according to the association.

A plan to restart a controversial program allowing the Internal Revenue Service to contract with private collection agencies to pursue millions of unpaid tax bills is now on the Senate floor.

Loyalty programs can be a challenge because in Brazil's anti-coupon culture. Pizza Hut is overcoming this hurdle with a combined loyalty and prepaid card.