Network rules

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

Since the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was introduced in 2004, many merchants found compliance to be too arduous or costly and just skipped it, risking fines. But increasingly, other regulations like GDPR are changing the PCI DSS compliance equation.

In a move to increase the attractiveness of its Real-Time Payment network, The Clearing House is raising the transactional limit for single payments to $100,000 starting Feb. 1.

In a move to increase the attractiveness of its Real-Time Payment (RTP) network, The Clearing House is raising the transactional limit for single payments to $100,000 starting February 1, 2020.

Marqeta has been certified as a European card processor with Mastercard to help digital banks issue cards more quickly, signing Twisto as the first customer of the collaboration.

Seeking to clarify how merchants and banks should handle PIN debit transactions, the Accredited Standards Committee X9 and PCI Security Standards Council have created a unified standard.

The specific impetus for the Federal Trade Commission's inquiry into Visa and Mastercard's debit transaction routing processes is not entirely clear, but it likely stems from the effect that advanced payments technology has had on Durbin amendment compliance.

Samsung's upcoming XCover Pro phone, which can accept contactless payments without add-on hardware, is the first of what Visa hopes will be many devices capable of natively handling NFC payments.

After getting a reprieve from a 2017 deadline, gas stations now have less than a year to upgrade to EMV security at the pump — and the card brands aren't showing signs that they will be willing to postpone this mandate another time.

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.

China’s slow courting of U.S. payment companies made a tiny step forward this week, shortly after a similar gesture from the U.S. government that teases progress in the broader trade dispute.

The NFC Forum, the global standards body and advocacy association for the use of NFC, released the specifications to improve communication speed and the ability to use NFC in areas in which "noisy radio environments" might cause interference.

Payments security firm MyPINpad has received certification from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council for its software-based PIN entry on Apple mobile and tablet devices.

Conflict continues to mount between the card brands and merchants. Merchants say they deserve more input and actual decision-making power and that payments should operate through completely open standards in which all involved parties have had a say.

Interoperability has become a top priority in the minds of those advancing faster payments.

Could the Macy's online data breach have been thwarted by SRC, a new security technology championed by the card brands?

Two Mastercard issuers have enabled Mastercard’s True Name feature for customers who opt to use their preferred name on credit, debit and prepaid cards instead of their legal name, to support gender inclusion.

Isolationist politics are creeping closer to the payments industry, with European banks threatening to build a localized payment ecosystem to push back against the major American card brands.

The complexity of converting fuel pumps' hardware and software to accept EMV chip cards was such that the card brands gave pump manufacturers and gas stations an extra five years to comply. Now one year is left — and those complexities haven't diminished.

Mastercard is aggressively building a business payments ecosystem as it keeps an eye on political headwinds it has little control over.