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MasterCard-Backed Study: Prepaid Opportunity To Triple by 2017 |
 A study by The Boston Consulting Group commissioned by MasterCard says the total value of the branded prepaid card opportunity in the United States may tops $440 billion by 2017, nearly quadrupling its estimated value of $120.2 billion in 2009. Future branded prepaid growth will be driven primarily by increases in the public sector and corporate payroll segments, the study added. Healthcare and general use branded prepaid segments will also continue to see steady expansion.
"As the study findings demonstrate, there's significant growth potential for prepaid in the U.S. and MasterCard is committed to aggressively resourcing the opportunity to expand our prepaid footprint both in the U.S. and worldwide," said Laura Kelly, Group Executive, Global Prepaid Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide. "Having successfully launched several of the world's largest prepaid programs, MasterCard is leading the way in prepaid innovation as the network of choice for organizations looking to enter or expand their prepaid programs. We commissioned this study to assess the true segment potential and identify key industry growth drivers to help MasterCard and our partners better understand and optimize the opportunity before us." |
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VISA to go Easy on Non-Compliant Merchants — For Now |
 Two key deadlines for merchants accepting VISA cards passed last week (July 1), accompanied by a statement from the card company saying it would "not take a punitive approach" against those who haven't been able to meet the deadlines. Acquirers were required to make sure their merchants use point-of-sale software that meets the Payment Application Data Security Standard and that any PIN pads connected to Visa Inc.’s network use triple DES encryption technology.
The PA-DSS compliance program at VISA began in 2007. The requirement applies to software that runs on multifunction point of sale systems frequently used in restaurants and other specialty merchants.
MasterCard Worldwide has set a July 1, 2012, global deadline for PA-DSS compliance for its merchants.
While VISA said it would work with acquirers, merchant banks and processors to assist merchants who, in good faith, haven't been able to meet the compliance deadline, it also noted that the lenient policy won't apply to those who purposely ignore the requirement.
Visa’s will take the same approach to merchants who cannot meet the deadline for triple DES encryption of PIN pads. |
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PCI Co. to Increase Compliance Time for New Standards Releases |
 The PCI Data Security Council says it has made changes to its standards process that will give merchants, banks and payment processors more time to adjust to new security recommendations in the future.
The Council will release new standards for securing payment and card-related data and applications in October. But banks and merchants will have a 14-month grace period before they have to prove they're in compliance with the new standards; members will report on their compliance with the old standards through December 31, 2011.
"The main reason we're doing this is because we've had a ton of feedback," According to Council General Manager Bob Russo said in an interview with Bank Systems & Security magazine. "This is an attempt to give everyone more time to live with the standard, to understand it, and to give us feedback on it so we have more meaningful updates going forward."
The Council holds community meetings in September and October of each year, and new standards will emerge from these meetings that will take effect January 1st of next year.
Russo says he doesn't expect there will be too many surprises in the next round of standards, summaries of which will be published throughout the summer. |
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Durbin Calls Interchange Hearing for June 16 |
 While a U.S. House and Senate conference committee works on financial reform legislation, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) will try to shoreup support for his amendment on interchange regulation by holding a hastily-called hearing on Wednesday June 16, before the Senate Appropriations Committee's Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. Durbin chairs the subcommittee.
Witnesses include representatives of the Treasury Department, Government Accountability Office and Amtrak, along with Bruce Sullivan, Vice President of Government Solutions for Visa Inc., Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and Wendy Chronister, President and CEO, Qik'n EZ Stores, Springfield, Illinois.
The hearing comes as opposition to Durbin's interchange amendment began to develop in the House. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has persuaded more than 80 colleagues to oppose a Senate plan to regulate debit-card “swipe” fees.
Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat and member of the House majority’s leadership team, and Kenny Marchant, a Texas Republican, are circulating the letter today to all House members urging them to fight the proposal, Wasserman Schultz spokesman Jonathan Beeton said in an e-mail. Another 81 House members signed the letter, Beeton said.
You can follow developments regarding the Durbin amendment at the Voice Of Payments, ETA's advocacy portal, which includes tools to help you contact your representatives in Congress. |
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George Mason Professor Slams Interchange Regulation |
In a new white paper, Todd Zywicki, a Geroge Mason University law professor and fellow at the International Center for Law and Economics, says attempts by Congress to regulate interchange fees are doomed to backfire, offering few benefits while increasing consumer costs and reducing credit availability.
Zywicki notes that while merchants have complained that interchange fees are excessive, the cost is far outweighed by the savings that result when card issuers assume the cost of credit risk on their behalf.
"Rather than increasing consumer welfare in any meaningful sense, interchange fee legislation represents an attempt by some merchants to shift costs away from their businesses and onto card issuing banks and cardholders. In particular, bank-issued credit cards offer a dramatic improvement in the efficiency and availability of consumer credit by shifting credit risk from merchants onto banks in exchange for the cost of the interchange fee—currently averaging less than 2% of purchase value," Zwicki argues.
The George Mason legal expert also notes that interchange regulation has been tried in Australia, with unpleasant results:
"These unintended consequences [from interchange regulation] include increased costs and fewer benefits for cardholders. This is precisely what happened in Australia—the most complete experiment to date with regulating interchange fees—when the central bank in that country artificially capped interchange fees. Credit card customers in Australia now pay more for their cards and receive less in return, and there is no evidence that consumers, including those using cash or other forms of payment, have benefited at all or that overall economic efficiency has improved," he noted.
Read the full paper here. |
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