Payments News Update – August 27, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: TD Bank to Pay $122 Million to Settle Overdraft Claims Brought by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau USA Today – August 21, 2020 TD Bank has agreed to pay $122 million in a settlement with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over charges that it issued illegal overdraft fees. The Cherry Hill, N.J.-headquartered bank will pay $97 million to about 1.42 million consumers and a civil penalty of...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Key U.S. lawmaker pushes for a ban on mergers until coronavirus pandemic ends.  The chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel on Thursday called for a moratorium on mergers in the next coronavirus stimulus package and a ban on deals that are not directly related to companies about to fail....

February 21, 2020

Wells Fargo & Co. will pay a total of $3 billion in a federal settlement resolving criminal, civil, and administrative liability with respect to its “cross-selling” sales practices between 2002 and 2016 that led to the opening of millions of checking, savings, credit card, and other accounts on behalf of individual customers under false pretenses or without the customers’ consent.  As part of the settlement, Wells Fargo admitted that it...

Payments News Update -- November 21, 2019

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Visa Confirms the FTC Is Probing Its Debit Transaction Routing Practices Digital Transactions News – November 18, 2019 Confirming rumors that the Federal Trade Commission is looking into issues involving debit card transaction routing, Visa Inc. late last week reported the Federal Trade Commission has asked it to voluntarily provide information about its routing practices. In a brief notice in its fiscal 2019 report to...

Payments News Update -- August 28, 2019

Legal and Regulatory Developments As Brexit Nears, Uncertainty Swarms Cross-Border Payments PaymentsSource – August 28, 2019 (subscription required) Processors that rely on cross-border payments to reach new territories are feeling the economic squeeze of the looming Brexit deadline. The problem with Brexit is less about politics and regulation, and more about how these factors will impact processing infrastructure. The lack of a deal ahead of the October 31 Brexit deadline...

Payments News Update -- May 15, 2019

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Supreme Court Says Apple Will Have to Face App Store Monopoly LawsuitDebit Dynamics The Verge – May 13, 2019 (click here for the Court's opinion) The Supreme Court is letting an antitrust lawsuit against Apple proceed, and it’s rejected Apple’s argument that iOS App Store users aren’t really its customers. The Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Apple v. Pepper, agreeing in a...

Payments News Update -- May 8, 2019

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Debit Dynamics Digital Transactions News – May 1, 2019 Merchants have said it before, and they’re saying it again: It’s high time the Federal Reserve lowers its regulated debit card interchange rate. The call by the Retail Industry Leaders Association came shortly after the Fed in March released its latest study of debit card revenues and expenses. The study, for the year 2017, says regulated...

The Arrival of the China Pays

The payments news last week was dominated by Apple, whose CEO Tim Cook promised that its newly introduced Apple Card and its Apple Pay platform will “transform another fundamental method of payment.” But many payments professionals are equally intrigued by the steady unveiling of potentially more impactful disruptors. These disruptors come not from the innovation labs at Cupertino, but from China. Two companies, Alipay and WeChat Pay, are following the...

March 20, 2019

Wells Fargo Securities has been ordered to pay over $800,000 in civil penalties to the SEC for failing to disclose that a video game development project being financed by a bond it underwrote still faced a significant shortfall in funding. The lead banker on the deal, Peter Cannava, was additionally accused of failing to disclose the fees being paid to the firm by startup video game company, 38 Studios. SEC

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. EU's Vestager says not precluding Facebook case in future.  Facebook is not currently in EU regulators’ crosshairs but it may well be in future because of the crucial role played by data, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Tuesday. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s comments came two weeks after the German cartel...