Weekly News Update

Payments News Update – March 4, 2022

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Merchants Payments Coalition Launches Campaign to Fight Swipe-Fee Increase Slated for April ConvenienceStore News – March 2, 2022 The Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC) has unveiled an advertising campaign to educate Congress and other policymakers on increasing the swipe fees credit card networks and big banks charge merchants to process...

Payments News Update – February 18, 2022

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Visa Had a Monopoly on Payments at the Olympics for 36 Years. China Put an End to That Fortune – February 11, 2022 Since 1986, Visa has served as the exclusive payment service provider for the Olympic Games, complimenting cash as one of the only two ways to pay for anything at official Olympic venues. If you’re at the Olympics and need to pay with a credit...

Payments News Update – December 17, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: UK Government Outlines Plans for Regulation of Buy Now Pay Later Industry The Spectator – December 15, 2021

The buy now pay later industry has exploded in recent years, with the industry now worth $100 billion (circa £70 billion). Also known as BNPL, it is used by shoppers to delay payments on any kind of product from champagne to clothes and kitchens, and the...

Payments News Update – December 3, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: 6 Ways the EU’s Digital Markets Act Will Change Big Tech PYMNTS – November 29, 2021 The European Union’s Digital Markets Act is coming, and Big Tech will never be the same. In theory. The rules will be voted on by the EU parliament this week, but are widely expected to pass. It’s important to remember that these rules apply to companies with a market cap of...

Payments News Update – November 12, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: If You Use Venmo, PayPal or Other Payment Apps This Tax Rule Change May Affect You CNN – November 9, 2021 If you're among the millions of people who use payment apps like PayPal, Venmo, Square, and other third-party electronic payment networks, you could be affected by a tax reporting change that goes into effect in January. Payment app providers will have to start...

Payments News Update – October 29, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Report: Apple ‘Very Likely’ to Face Antitrust Lawsuit From US Department of Justice 9to5Mac – October 25, 2021 A new report from The Information today indicates that Apple is “very likely” to face an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice in the United States. The report explains that the US DOJ has “accelerated” the antitrust probe into...

Payments News Update – October 15, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: European Banks Debate Rival to US Payment Giants Politico EU – September 30, 2021 Europe’s biggest banks will decide if it’s in their interests to take on the U.S. payment duopoly of Mastercard and Visa as soon as next month, as political pressure grows to break American dominance in this space. Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, ING, Santander, UniCredit...

Payments News Update – October 1, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Alibaba Apps Start Offering WeChat Pay Option After Government Orders Reuters – September 28, 2021 China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has begun offering payment services from Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat on a number of its apps, after the government ordered major tech firms to stop blocking each other’s services and links. Local tech blog 36Kr reported on...

Payments News Update – August 26, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Outgoing NY Governor Signs Bill to Limit Overdraft Practices at State-Chartered Banks Banking Dive – August 20, 2021 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Thursday aimed at helping consumers avoid bank overdraft fees. The law requires New York-regulated banks to process checks in the order they are received, or from smallest to largest, to prevent customers...

Payments News Update – August 13, 2021

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Merchants Redouble Their Efforts to Push the Fed on Debit’s Routing and Pricing Rules Digital Transactions News – August 11, 2021 With a Federal Reserve deadline hitting Wednesday for comments on decade-old debit card regulations, large merchants are firing some last-minute salvos in hopes of influencing the Fed to make major revisions to rules governing...