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FEATURED ARTICLES
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Alert: Senate Set to Vote on Interchange Amendment |
URGENT -- ACT NOW TO STOP REGULATION OF INTERCHANGE AND PAYMENTS FEES
An amendment to the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 on interchange and fee regulation is headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate TODAY. Please contact your Senators as soon as possible to object to this amendment at ETA's Voice of Payments™. |
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Vermont House Passes Merchant-Backed Card Rules Bill |
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The Vermont House of Representatives voted today to pass legislation to change card payment rules. The bill is an amended version of legislation passed several weeks ago by the state's Senate, which is expected to agree to the House version next week. The bill would then go to Governor Jim Douglas to sign into law.
While the newly amended version does not attempt to fix or regulate interchange rates, the bill does allow Vermont retailers to set minimum dollar amounts for card purchases, requiring consumers to carry cash more frequently. The bill would also allow merchants to offer discounts for all preferred methods of payment, including cash, checks, and selectively chosen debit and credit cards (as determined by each merchant.)
Additional details will be posted at The Voice of Payments™ as they become available.
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House Committee Takes Up Interchange |
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing today (April 28) on the Credit Card Fair Fee Act. The bill, H.R. 2695, was introduced last June by panel Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich.
It would provide a limited antitrust immunity for electronic payment systems and merchants, allowing them to jointly negotiate and agree upon rates and terms for access to their systems. The negotiated rates and terms would apply to all participants regardless of system type or volume of transactions. The bill also calls for disclosures of itemized costs and access agreements. H.R. 2695 had 17 cosponsors as of mid-March.
In conjunction with the hearing, ETA provided a written statement to the Judiciary Committee opposing the legislation.ETA maintains that the bill will adversely affect the payments industry in a variety of ways. "First, the bill seeks to interfere in the carefully calibrated risk mitigation of electronic payments systems, ETA's statement said, "second, the bill seeks to have government set artificial price points in a market upon which participation is voluntary and negotiated; and last, there is no evidence that the bill’s price-setting construct would produce cost savings for merchants or guarantee that merchants would pass price reductions, if any, on to consumers."
The statenment also argued that 'as an attempt to insert the federal government into a series of business-to-business agreements, H.R. 2695 would hurt consumers, not help them.
Read the full statement. |
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Survey Shows Consumer Interest in P2P Money Movement |
Demand for electronic person-to-person (P2P) payments and transfers is growing rapidly and the interest of making these and other payment transactions through an ePayment Portal is strong as well. In fact, the study found that of those who were interested in the Portal concept, 70 percent would be likely to use P2P payment services within that Portal. This is according to research by eCom Advisors, a provider of executive consulting and research services in the financial services industry.
The study revealed that a substantial opportunity exists for electronic P2P payments to replace cash and check money exchanges that take place between individuals. Almost 50 percent of consumers expressed interest in using electronic P2P for common needs – for example, sending money to a child at college, sending money out of the country or splitting the cost of a gift with family members, co-workers or friends. To encourage adoption, banks would need to position electronic P2P payments as a component of a payment and money movement solution. The research indicates that banks will benefit most by promoting P2P payments to online banking and bill payment customers, as well as users of mobile banking services and payments. The study also suggests that there should be a strong link between banks’ mobile banking solution and the electronic P2P Portal concepts.
Read the Full Article |
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Bankers, Businesses Divided on Need for Regulation |
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Fundtech Ltd., a provider of global transaction banking solutions, today announced the results of a survey that found pronounced differences between members of the corporate and banking communities on the matter of further government regulation, as well as an overall trend towards increasing value-added services in the industry
Fundtech is offering the first live global webcast originating from NACHA's annual PAYMENTS 2010 Conference to be held on Monday, April 26.More than 400 people have registered for the webcast and were surveyed to gauge their opinions on industry issues. Among survey participants, the most contentious issue was whether further government regulation of the financial industry is necessary to prevent future financial crises. There is strong agreement (76% of respondents) that new regulations are not needed to prevent future financial crises. By sector, however, opinions are much more divided: 37% of corporate respondents see the need for further regulation, while only 19% of bankers believe this is necessary Full Story |
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ETA Glossary Online |
 | | | | | | | The ETA Encyclopedia of Terminology for the Acquiring Industry is now online! | | | | | | | | Need a good definition for P2P? Need to know what a Merchant Descriptor is? | | | | | | | | Our online glossary has the information and its been vetted by industry experts, so you can depend on it. | | | | | | | | | |
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