Visa, MasterCard and American Express lost an early round of a lawsuit alleging they colluded to pin liability for fraudulent transactions on merchants who didn't meet a chip-reading technology deadline.

Capital One Financial plans to start issuing credit cards for the outdoor equipment chain Cabela's under a deal connected with the retailer's expected sale to Bass Pro Shops.

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a free-speech clash with big stakes for retailers and credit-card companies, agreeing to decide the fate of laws in 10 states that limit how merchants can describe the lower prices they charge for cash transactions.

American Express can prohibit merchants from steering customers to credit cards with lower transaction fees, a federal appeals court ruled in a case involving about $50 billion of merchant fees annually.

In 2010, lawmakers passed reforms to bring transparency and competition to a swipe fee market that had been devoid of both. Now, they want to undo that progress.

Bankers may have a reputation for being old-school, but their rapidly growing digital-ad budgets are in step with the rest of the business world. Banks can both gather valuable demographic data from who clicks on their ads and better measure returns on their investments.

PNC Financial Services Group plans to increase consumer lending with its current tilt toward commercial loans generating lower overall loan yields.

While the retail lobby won in the political arena and successfully decreased its costs through price-fixing, the biggest loser in this situation was the American consumer.

New credit card accounts at JPMorgan Chase have grown by double digits thanks partly to its embrace of borrowers with lower FICO scores, but it sought to reassure investors that credit quality has suffered only slightly.

The revelation Thursday that Wells Fargo employees were opening accounts for customers without their consent is sparking doubt about the accuracy of the reported growth in the credit card business. The scandal also casts in a harsh new light on Wells’ strategy of building a large credit card operation through its branch network.