Network rules

Visa has reached an agreement with Taxback International to streamline the recovery of value-added taxes, which frequently go unclaimed..

Canada has joined a growing number of nations seeking to adopt the International Standards Organization 20022 payment messaging standard to initiate faster payments at less cost.

Japanese card payment network JCB has received certification from Global Payments to accept the Japanese credit card company's EMV-card product.

MasterCard is extending its Zero Liability protection to cardholders and small businesses in all of its markets in an effort to recalibrate the program to match the realities of digital commerce.

The U.S. was one of the last countries to convert to EMV chip cards, at least partly because of the cost involved for the country's massive payments system to replace the easy-to-duplicate mag-stripe cards and halt counterfeit fraud.

In what could be seen as another salvo in the battle between payments and financial services 'disruptors' and more traditional financial institutions, five large technology companies — Google, Amazon, Apple, PayPal and Intuit — have formed a lobbying and advocacy group.

When Netflix announced that its new U.S. subscriber count had declined 10.2% year-over-year, it blamed the "ongoing transition to chip-based credit and debit cards." And the video-streaming company may not be the only victim of this phenomenon.

After plenty of grumbling, the U.S. financial industry has finally begun the slow trundle toward faster payments for all. Same-day payments were approved by members of the industry group Nacha in May, approved by the Federal Reserve earlier this month, and will begin going into effect in September 2016.

Many different data security technologies exist, but the payments industry “does not have what it needs for a global standard,” said Marianne Crowe, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The U.S. made a big jump toward "faster payments," as the Federal Reserve Board approved enhancements to its automated clearing house service that will require its banks to process same-day transactions.

Following its massive 2013 data breach, Target vowed to accelerate its EMV-chip card migration, but the retailer still just barely made the card networks' deadline.

The Payments Security Task Force and the EMV Migration Forum will offer educational materials about EMV-chip card payments, including templates of social media posts and hashtags; educational downloads that include visual aids and training guides; media interview tips; and more.

When the card networks' October deadline for EMV-chip card adoption arrives, things will likely have changed very little compared to how they are today.

The Payments U.K. council has delivered the first draft of the ISO 20022 payment messaging standard, fulfilling an earlier promise that it says will pave the way for a globally interoperable real-time payments system.

Cumbersome regulations for prepaid products proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could reduce consumer-friendly market competition, discourage innovation and effectively cut off many Americans’ participation in the digital economy.

Nacha recently announced a rule change allowing for same day ACH payments. This decision was a heavily debated throughout the industry for several years.

The celebration that accompanied China's loosening card regulations is premature. It's wishful thinking that Visa and MasterCard easily be able to capture a percentage of the humongous China market.

Throughout the U.S., many companies are still not covering the essentials when protecting their systems, but the enemy is getting increasingly sophisticated and relentless, Visa's risk chief said.

Fast-developing technologies are dumping fresh risk on a payments industry already reeling from a parade of data breaches, placing more pressure on cross-industry efforts to improve security.

Large banks and card issuers are ready for the U.S. shift to chip-and-PIN technology, according to a report issued Wednesday. But the drop in fraud that is expected to result is unlikely to come any time soon.