Compliance

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.

A new Baltimore federal court filing shows that more than $2.9 million was seized by the Department of Homeland Security from Mutum Sigillum LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, in May.

WASHINGTON – President Obama met yesterday at the White House with financial regulators to discuss ongoing implementation of the Dodd-Frank bill.

While some Bitcoin businesses hesitate to respond to the evolving regulatory framework surrounding digital currency, Robert Pargac, director of global investigations and compliance at Navigant Consulting, says Bitcoin businesses should stay proactive and aggressive in their approach to risk and compliance.

The German Finance Minister has ruled that Bitcoin is a “currency unit” and a form of “private money," and that the digital currency's users should pay sales tax as well as capital gains tax, Ars Technica reported on Aug. 18.

Bitcoin users who help maintain the digital ecosystem's official record of transactions may soon find themselves required to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as administrators of the alternative currency.

A federal judge raised the possibility that banks will have to repay billions of dollars to merchants, but legal experts say the court lacks the authority to enact such an order.

Microsoft Corp. is joining Eurosmart, a Brussels, Belgium-based association that develops security standards for smart cards, terminals and other electronic applications.

A court ruling that debit card fee caps be lowered could also enable merchants to play card networks against one another.

With its latest proposal, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council aims to make card data security more straightforward for merchants and organizations accepting payments.

Mobile payments provider Square Inc. faces fines of $507,000 from Florida regulators for operating in the state without a money transmitter license.

The U.S. Federal Reserve was given a week to tell a federal judge its position on immediately rewriting regulations setting debit card swipe fees after a court found the current rule unlawful.

A new group of merchants, including Delta Airlines, Emerald Foods, Callaway Golf Sales, Duke Energy, Men's Warehouse, MGM Resorts and Travelocity, filed suit in federal court Aug. 13 claiming Visa and MasterCard are violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by operating under identical rules for card acceptance.

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed additions to the Telemarketing Sales Rule that could have unintended consequences for the underbanked.

Fallon Community Health Plan will implement PaySpan's automated payments platform for enrollment, reimbursement and other transactions in line with new rules tied to the Affordable Care Act.

As many as 30% of merchants bailed out on their Payment Card Industry data security test because they didn't have time or didn't understand it, ControlScan says. The vendor aims to improve the process by suppressing irrelevant questions and putting the easiest questions first.

In the race to provide consumers with identity verification tools that are simple and easy to use, it's in everyone's best interest to ensure that businesses are not sacrificing data security in the process.

The New York State Department of Financial Services issued subpoenas to 22 emerging payments players, including many that handle the digital currency Bitcoin, demonstrating that new payments models have not yet found their place in the eyes of the law.

VeriFone has begun outfitting on-board payments systems on New York City's new street-hail livery cars.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A federal court on Friday ordered the forfeiture to the Drug Enforcement Administration of $67,000 in a Golden 1 CU account held by the owner of a legal marijuana dispensary, but allowed the member to keep $34,000 of the $101,600 seized a year ago.