Ever feel like everything you say on the Internet is being carefully monitored? That may not be such a strange concern after all. Once you see the 40-foot screen for the MasterCard Conversation Suite, you'll feel like George Orwell's "big brother" … Continue reading
As the use of prepaid debit cards increases, so does the risk of theft and fraud. Last week, federal prosecutors charged eight individuals in New York with cyber attacks on the global financial system. They were part of an international … Continue reading
Being the CEO of a credit card issuer or processor pays well. Very well. MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga's pay package last year totaled $11.3 million, an increase of 35 percent over his 2011 compensation of $8.3 million, according to the … Continue reading
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has backed out of a pact with Visa, MasterCard and other major credit card providers. The class-action settlement for $7.25 billion was designed to make up for some of the interchange or swipe fees … Continue reading
U.S. Amasses Big Data on 10 Million People, Banks Protest The CFPB is working towards monitoring how millions of Americans use credit cards, take out mortgages, and overdraw their checking accounts, but bankers aren't happy about it. The CFPB wants access … Continue reading
ATM Fees on the Rise Using an ATM outside of your bank's network is becoming more expensive. The average fee a bank charged a non-customer for using their ATM in 2012 was $2.10, a 20 percent increase from the $1.75 … Continue reading
The European Commission has begun an investigation regarding the fees MasterCard charges consumers for card transactions made while visiting Europe. According to the BBC, the European Commission, the antitrust regulator of the European Union, said some of the firm's "inter-bank … Continue reading
Analysts See Steady Credit Card Use, Despite Fears of Consumer Cutbacks Analysts expect upcoming earnings from American Express, Visa and other large credit card companies to show that shoppers continued to swipe their credit cards at a healthy clip in the … Continue reading
MasterCard recently announced the creation of a Memorandum of Understanding with Alibaba, an eCommerce giant in China. This mutual agreement will allow both MasterCard and Alibaba to tap further into the eCommerce market and expand their efforts in China. MasterCard … Continue reading
18 States Considering Ban on Credit Card Surcharges Eighteen states are now considering legislation that would bar retailers from imposing surcharges when consumers use their credit cards. Ten states have already imposed bans on credit card surcharges, which limited the potential impact of … Continue reading
With the slow diminishment of cash in the modern world, many Americans find it difficult to pay for parking in busy cities. In response to this quarter-lacking quandary, Ocean City officials have opted to install parking meters that now accept … Continue reading
Up until now, PayPal and similar electronic payment processors have been able to avoid excessive fees from credit card companies, with those companies assuming all the costs for transactions in their systems. MasterCard has finally grown tired of this, and … Continue reading
Lawmakers Target Unfair Overdraft Charges Democrats have introduced a bill that would limit the cost of overdraft fees and prohibit practices that increase the likelihood customers will overdraw their accounts. The Overdraft Protection Act would prohibit financial institutions from charging more … Continue reading
Young Adults Retreat From Piling Up Debt Total debt among young adults dropped in the last decade to the lowest level in 15 years. A typical young U.S. household, defined as one led by someone under age 35, had $15,000 … Continue reading
Visa Ends Ban on Retailer Discounts for Specific Cards Visa is giving its merchants more flexibility in offering discounts to their customers, and reversing restrictions that prevented retail partners from offering special deals to customers that paid with a specific bank's … Continue reading
Educational initiatives on the U.S. transition to secure chip-based credit card payment systems was one of the top priorities for 2013 to come out of the 6th annual Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit, held recently in Salt Lake City, Utah. … Continue reading
Visa and MasterCard both made significant moves in the digital payment markets this week. MasterCard introduced MasterPass, a digital service that allows customers to purchase items from wherever they are and with any mobile device. Consumers can use any payment … Continue reading
If you have had a credit card for any length of time, it is likely that you've had an error on your account. It could be you were billed for a purchase you never made, billed twice for a transaction … Continue reading
Visa has lifted the ban that prohibits its retail partners from offering special deals to customers that paid with a specific bank's credit or debit card, according to the American Banker. New Visa CEO Charles Scharf was behind the change … Continue reading
A number of major retail chains and associations are assuring consumers that they will not implement a surcharge on consumers making a purchase by credit card. When customers use a credit card, the retailer is charged an interchange or swipe … Continue reading
MasterCard, the world's second-largest credit and debit card network, reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.9 billion, an increase of 9.7% from a year earlier. Card use increased as consumers continue to switch from cash and checks. Purchase volume increased 13% from … Continue reading
Secrets of Mobile Success: Cost-Cutting Banks Seek Smartphone Customers Strapped for new revenue and pressed into waves of cost cuts, the country's largest banks are trying to keep the customers they have, woo the ones they don't and do it … Continue reading
Beginning this Sunday, retailers in most states could begin charging you a fee when you buy something with a credit card. But most industry analysts feel competition will limit the number of merchants that actually begin charging a "checkout fee." … Continue reading
With Cordray Nomination, Obama Renews Fight With GOP President Obama renominated Richard Cordray for head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday. Cordray is currently serving in the post thanks to a recess appointment. A year and a half ago, … Continue reading
Consumer Group Warns of Card Surcharges Credit cardholders must be on the watch for new check-out fees that merchants will be able to impose starting in January under a class-action settlement with Visa and MasterCard. But merchant trade groups say … Continue reading
2012 was a relatively quiet year for the credit card industry. However, there were a number of developments that may have a far-reaching impact in the years to come. Here are the top ten credit card stories of 2012: Swipe … Continue reading
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by Home Depot and other merchants to speed up the appeals process in a class action settlement over swipe fees. The U.S. appeals court is postponing the briefing until the settlement … Continue reading
Credit Card Penalty Payments are Arriving More than $425 million in refunds and restitution will soon be sent to millions of consumers nationwide, penalties paid for deceptive credit card practices. And another $410 million--from Bank of America--is already landing in … Continue reading
How Four Families Conquered Their Credit Problems A Federal Reserve Board report issued in June revealed that only about 39 percent of card holders carried a balance in 2010, down from 46 percent in 2007. Those balances average $2,600, compared … Continue reading
Retailers continue to fight hard against the $7.25 billion interchange fee settlement between merchants and Visa, MasterCard and several banks. On Tuesday, ten merchants and trade groups filed notice that they will challenge the settlement of this swipe fee price-fixing … Continue reading
Battle Plan Shifts on Dodd-Frank President Barack Obama's victory means the 2010 Dodd-Frank law will stand. But the finance industry could still cut some parts of the law because changes now are politically less risky for the administration and Democrats in … Continue reading
Visa has significantly expanded its reach into the digital payment industry. Visa's digital wallet service, V.me, is adding more than 50 financial institutions, including PNC, U.S. Bank, BBVA/Compass and BB&T. This increases Visa's potential base of cardholders to 55 million. … Continue reading
Despite an outcry from retailers and trade groups, the proposed $7.25 billion settlement between merchants and Visa, MasterCard and several large banks over interchange fees took another step to becoming reality on Friday when a federal judge granted preliminary approval … Continue reading
Consumer Credit Growth Cools, Credit Card Use Sags In September, growth in consumer credit cooled as households appeared to use their credit cards less frequently. According to Federal Reserve data released this week, consumer credit grew $11.36 billion in September, lower … Continue reading
MasterCard is introducing a new credit card in Singapore that will contain a built-in LCD display and a keyboard. MasterCard is partnering with Standard Chartered Bank for this Singapore introduction, scheduled for January 2013. The card is manufactured by NagraID Security. … Continue reading
Consumers are using their MasterCard more, both globally and in the United States. MasterCard reported third-quarter results today which showed earnings and sales were above year-ago levels. Purchases throughout the world grew 12 percent in the third quarter to $676 … Continue reading
Credit Cards Charge Up Healthy Margins Consumer confidence is up, and household debt is down. That's good news for retailers. It's also good for credit card processors Visa and MasterCard. Strong revenue is only part of the story. Leveraging profits … Continue reading
The majority of plaintiffs named in the record $6 billion class-action settlement with Visa and MasterCard are now mounting an eleventh-hour effort to block the settlement. Ten of the 19 trade groups and retailers feel the settlement leaves issuers with … Continue reading
Last July, Google tested a program with 1,400 small businesses in the United States that allowed them the chance to pay for advertising on Google Adwords with a special Google credit card. AdWords are the text ads appearing adjacent to … Continue reading
U.S. Credit Card Lenders Shun Add-Ons as CFPB Cracks Down Chase, Bank of America and American Express are among credit card lenders retreating from a $2.4 billion market as regulators seek curbs on deceptive marketing of products including debt cancellation. Scrutiny … Continue reading
Another major trade association has come out against the $7.25 billion settlement between some retailers and Visa and MasterCard over the interchange fees on credit card transactions. Today, the National Restaurant Association announced that it is opposing this settlement because … Continue reading
Today, Groupon launched a payment service that enables merchants to accept credit card payments using a card reader attached to an iPhone or iPodTouch. By entering this market, Groupon Payments will take on the two leaders, PayPal and Square. Groupon … Continue reading
The opposition continues to grow to the $7.25 billion settlement on credit card interchange fees that Visa, MasterCard and other banks agreed to pay. Yesterday, the National Retail Federation announced that it received approval from its board to go to … Continue reading
Americans are slowly getting more options for EMV chip credit cards for overseas travel. The EMV (stands for EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa) chip has replaced the magnetic stripe in most countries but the United States, and this has created problems for travelers … Continue reading
Citigroup has become the first international bank to issue a solely-branded credit card in China. This represents a significant accomplishment in what is eventually expected to become the world's largest credit card market. Citi's credit card will be accepted in … Continue reading
Card Swipes in Church Make Giving Easier It hasn't always been easy for administrators and lay leaders to get people to donate regularly and increase their contributions each year, no matter their faith. Over the last decade or so, entrepreneurs have seized … Continue reading
Many analysts considered the $7.25 billion credit card interchange fee settlement to be a significant victory for retailers. But the world's two largest retailers, Walmart and Target, have both come out against the proposed settlement. They join the National Association … Continue reading
Retailers reached an antitrust settlement on interchange fees with Visa, MasterCard and several large banks that will be good for merchants but might penalize cardholders with higher prices or decreased credit card rewards. The $7.25 billion dollar settlement allows retailers to … Continue reading
During the last three years, the banking industry has been hammered by bad loans, increased regulations and a recession. During this time, prepaid cards have been one of the few bright spots of revenue growth for banks and lenders. Consumers … Continue reading
Another celebrity is entering the prepaid market: Magic Johnson. The NBA Hall of Famer is entering a partnership with OneWest Bank, FSB and introducing a reloadable prepaid MasterCard. The "Magic Card" targets people who don't have a traditional bank deposit … Continue reading