Interchange fees

Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and banks that issue credit cards went on high alert Wednesday when the National Restaurant Association asked President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to cut the so-called swipe fees incurred every time a customer pays with plastic.

Advance wage access company Branch has partnered with Cardtronics’ Allpoint ATM network to provide surcharge-free cash access at all Allpoint ATMs across the U.S. to its customers.

With Visa’s sweeping change continuing to raise fees for credit card transactions, it is no surprise that many businesses, especially in the retail industry, are unhappy, says Fattmerchant CEO Suneera Madhani.

It is long past time for the Federal Reserve to use its authority to bring transparency and competition to the debit market, says the Retail Industry Leaders Association's Austen Jensen.

Visa typically adjusts its interchange rates every April and October, but this year it is getting an atypically strong response.

Higher rates are looming for transactions on e-commerce sites, while merchants in certain services categories, such as real estate and education, will see fees decline, according to a document Visa sent to banks.

Oklahoma lawmakers' decision last month to drop the state's surcharging ban was yet another signal that U.S. merchants have the final say in whether to apply extra charges to credit card transactions to offset interchange fees.

Though many merchants remain wary of alienating their customers with fees, others now see an opportunity to recoup the growing costs associated with accepting plastic.

The U.S. District Court in New York has issued final approval of an estimated $6.2 billion settlement in the merchants' class-action lawsuit over swipe fees, a 15-year-long case against Visa and Mastercard. But the struggle between merchants and the card brands doesn't end here.

Jane Fraser, Citigroup's CEO of Latin America, has helped the bank cut a deal with Mexico's new president that will result in a loss of swipe fees, but may help it gain customers long-term.

Accounts that offer high interest rates can bolster fee income and lower noninterest expenses, though credit unions have to carefully watch these products to ensure they actually make money.

For ISOs, it's hard to watch someone else deliver payment services in their place.

Interchange rates on payments in the fuel and energy sectors can be so complicated that energy marketers can lose thousands of dollars a year because of mistakes they make in coding their authorized credit card transactions.

To make a credit card top of wallet and build interchange income, credit unions must develop trust, provide great service and ensure the card works every time.

The most enlightened regulator or legislator can’t match the dynamic intelligence of billions of market decisions by consumers, merchants, banks, networks and processors, argues Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. ended nearly two decades of European Union antitrust scrutiny with a pact that requires them to reduce fees for foreigners shopping in the region.

So far, 2019 has been characterized by a series of eye-catching strategic deals within the global payments ecosystem, with new players positioning themselves to rival Visa and Mastercard. The card networks giants have responded by pursuing a strategy to become less reliant on transactional fees.

Two months after Mastercard lawyers urged an English appeals court to follow the lead of antitrust judges that had tossed out a multi-billion pound class action lawsuit from U.K. consumers over credit card charges, that appeals court has ruled against the credit card giant.

Blockchain technology provider Yosemite X is following the spirit of the mega-retailers' disbanded Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) joint retailer venture, but on a local level.

After forming a series of high-profile partnerships with various payments service providers, China's UnionPay International has declared its plan to challenge Visa and Mastercard’s duopoly of the U.K. card industry.