Interchange fees

The change would lower the maximum fee on a $50 debit transaction from 24.5 cents to 17.7 cents. The central bank points to lower processing costs for card issuers in recent years.

Investors have bought a one-branch bank in Elmore City, Oklahoma (the town that inspired "Footloose"), renamed it Old Glory Bank and plan an all-digital brand that emphasizes patriotism. Experts question whether Old Glory is offering a solution to a nonexistent problem.

Visa and Mastercard credit card-issuing banks with more than $100 billion in assets would be required to give merchants a lower-cost choice for processing each transaction under a new bill proposed to spur competition.

Though the retailer's threat to drop Visa in the U.K. appears to have subsided, companies like Clik2pay, Affirm and Curve have seized on an opportunity to advance account-to-account transactions, buy now/pay later and cryptocurrency.

The central bank wants financial institutions to enable additional routing options for online purchases, a change industry advocates say would strain the resources of smaller card issuers.

The e-commerce giant is adding a surcharge for Visa credit card payments in Singapore. It's a tactic reminiscent of the time its big-box rival outright banned the card brand in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in a bid to lower its costs.

Shopkeepers and other establishments say banks' costs have fallen substantially in recent years but interchange prices have held steady since the Federal Reserve capped them in 2010.

Shop owners and other establishments say banks' costs have fallen substantially in recent years but interchange prices have held steady since the Federal Reserve capped them in 2010.

While U.S. regulators pressure Visa and Mastercard, there's ample choice, particularly when compared to the national debit rails that exist in most of the world, says Intrepid Ventures' Eric Grover.

Visa and Mastercard are facing fresh opposition from U.S. retailers in a long-running legal fight over the fees merchants pay each time consumers swipe their credit or debit card at checkout.