Wherever we look around the payments industry, we see change. Some changes are more significant than others, of course, and those that begin with the four major card companies tend to be more significant than most. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover sit at the top of our business hierarchy and so, whatever happens there tends to flow down through the rest of the payments world.
This month’s cover story takes a look at some of the changes going on among the card companies and their relationships to the rest of the acquiring world. Some of the changes are positive; some no doubt will seem a bit threatening. The trend, as writer Dick Gamble points out, is pretty clear: The card companies’ ways of doing business are starting to look remarkably similar. As Mastercard and Visa eye the possibility of dealing directly with the largest merchants—the model that Discover and Amex began with—Amex and Discover are expanding the number of banks that issue their cards and to bring at least some ISOs on board under terms in line with what Visa and Mastercard have long offered.
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