Regulation

ATM manufacturers and operators saw a modest bump in their stock prices Dec. 16 following the Federal Reserve Board’s release of proposed rules that would dramatically restrict the interchange fees issuers receive for most debit card purchases.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board's proposal to restrict interchange fees on debit cards came out much tougher than expected on Thursday, causing one industry representative to dub it "horrendous" policy and spurring a stock drop at the two largest payment networks (see proposal).

Discover Financial Services is banking on a mobile future. Executives at the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company said during a Dec. 16 conference call with analysts to discuss its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that its deal with wireless carriers AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. will play heavily in its future.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board is considering a 12-cent fee cap on interchange fees for debit transactions as part of new regulations to rein in merchant costs of processing payments (see proposal).

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve this afternoon proposed rules aimed at lowering interchange fees on debit transactions that could cap fees at 12 cents per transaction, about what the current median cost of authorization, clearance and settlement is (see proposal).

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide impose restrictive and anticompetitive rules on merchants who accept their credit cards, the Competition Bureau is alleging in Canada in a Dec. 15 application with the country’s Competition Tribunal.

The Federal Trade Commission charged three debt-relief operations with making unsubstantiated claims to lure consumers nationwide into paying thousands of dollars in upfront fees, but failing to reduce credit card debts as promised, the agency announced in early December.

WASHINGTON — For the first time in its history, the Federal Reserve Board said Friday it would host a live webcast of an upcoming open board meeting.

Visa Europe this morning announced a settlement with the European Commission, agreeing to cap its weighted yearly average intraregional multilateral interchange rate for immediate debit transactions at 0.2% of the sale for four years. This represents a reduction of less than 20% for domestic interchange fees covered by the commitments, the card brand noted in a statement.

The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday it has banned a deceptive advertising operation from the debt-relief business under a $28.2 million judgment settlement.