Network rules

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.

Recognition by a market-based standards organization such as ISO, in the form of a three-letter code, would set the stage for increasing market depth and liquidity of bitcoin trading — in turn facilitating overall consumer and merchant adoption.

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

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.

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.

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council is making its security standards available on a Russian-language microsite as part of a move to promote data security in Russia.

The Visa Ready Program has approved Swiff, SCCP Group's chip-and-PIN mobile payment acceptance technology.

Even if the Federal Reserve Board does not backtrack sharply on its debit-fee cap as a result of last week's court ruling, the legal battle has created fresh uncertainty that may have some U.S. issuers questioning their long-term strategy.

A symbiotic relationship between security and revenue may sound too good to be true, but it's not. ISOs and acquirers can succeed by creating opportunities that pair enhanced PCI compliance tools with new revenue streams.

Though some issues remained, it seemed the card brands and debit networks were closer than ever to resolving their longstanding debate over EMV debit card routing when a federal judge potentially changed everything.

MasterCard Inc. reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates as spending on credit and debit cards rose.

Visa and MasterCard have agreed to share their common application identifier technology, enabling EMV-chip based debit transactions to originate from a single application while allowing merchants a choice of networks for routing.

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Visa and MasterCard may differ on their support of chip-and-PIN in the U.S., but they are of one mind in their approach to Australia.

Visa Inc., which operates the world's biggest electronic-payments network, was sued by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Asda unit, William Morrison Supermarkets Plc and Arcadia Group Plc over payment-processing fees.

MasterCard Inc., in a conference call today to discuss the European Commission's proposal to cut card fees paid by retailers, says it supports increasing competition but warns the proposed regulation could have unintended consequences.

In what its president says could be a "watershed event" in the debate over EMV debit transactions, the Secure Remote Payment Council has softened its stance to welcome Visa and MasterCard applications on EMV-chip cards.

The U.S. should follow the model that worked for the U.K. in its "seamless, coordinated" transition to the EMV-chip card standard seven years ago, Auriemma Consulting Group states in a new report.

Banks face caps on the card fees they can collect on Visa Europe Ltd. and MasterCard Inc. transactions as the European Union seeks to slash charges imposed on retailers by 6 billion euros ($8 billion) a year.

Canada's Competition Tribunal dismissed a case against MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. over rules that require merchants to accept credit cards with higher fees without imposing surcharges.