Merchant

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday sued Morgan Drexen Inc., of Costa Mesa, Calif., alleging it illegally charged more than 22,000 customers millions of dollars in upfront fees to help resolve outstanding debts.

Global mobile marketer Jesta Digital LLC, will provide refunds to a large number of consumers and pay an additional $1.2 million to the Federal Trade Commission as part of a settlement. The FTC alleged that Jesta crammed unwanted charges onto consumers’ cell phone bills.

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. will pursue a multibillion-dollar antitrust settlement with U.S. merchants over credit card fees even though opposition to the deal reached a level that would have allowed the card firms to walk away, according to the head of MasterCard.

As the Federal Trade Commission continues what it describes as an "ongoing crackdown on payment processors" allegedly engaged in fraudulent or deceptive practices, the merchant acquiring industry is ratcheting up efforts to respond to the ongoing enforcement actions and proactively address future oversight.

Micros Systems, which provides services for the hospitality and retail industries, is collaborating with PayPal to provide payments technology.

The national auto loan delinquency rate (the percentage of accounts 60 or more days past due) remained relatively flat in the second quarter ended June 30 compared with the year-ago period, moving from 0.79% to 0.80%.

A new research report on student loan debt is pinpointing the lasting financial effects.

Schools are increasingly relying on digital payments for the cafeteria and activities — a trend that is proving to be fertile ground for payments technology as frantic parents seek ways to keep their kids properly fed and supplied for their education.

As check registers and passbooks fade into obscurity for a growing number of bank customers, Realex seeks to further modernize payments by putting a human face on accounts.

Recognition by a market-based standards organization such as ISO, in the form of a three-letter code, would set the stage for increasing market depth and liquidity of bitcoin trading — in turn facilitating overall consumer and merchant adoption.