“Reasonable and proportional”, issuance and rewards are out, Fraud is in!”?
Last week I discussed the operational costs associated with issuing cards and retaining members and postulated that the Fed should include these costs in the analysis of “reasonable and proportional...
View ArticleCompetitive opportunity in a post Durbin world: richer debit rewards as the...
Dozens of articles have been written about the impact of the Durbin Amendment on the payment card industry, with nary a positive comment in the mix. The focus has been on the punitive impact that the...
View ArticleDebit or Credit, the role of merchant-issued rewards and the consumer’s...
On December 16, 2010 the fog began to lift on where Section 1075 of the Durbin Amendment would lead as the Federal Reserve Board issued its proposed interpretation of the legislative language. One...
View ArticleWho gets to choose? Durbin’s provision on “multi-homing” and the prohibition...
Here is the question: When considering Durbin’s requirement prohibiting exclusive debit transaction routing arrangements, does the merchant or issuer choose which second unaffiliated network is...
View ArticleMore Durbin confusion from the Fed, will they or won’t they; Bernanke Agrees!
This week Federal Reserve Board Chairman Bernanke sent a mixed message by stating that the Fed won’t be able to meet the April 21st rule making deadline but will meet the July 21st deadline for...
View ArticleDurbin’s Catch -22, Merchant Issued Rewards.
Merchants have won a battle, but the question is: can they leverage the advantage and win the war for the consumer’s method of payment? The phrase “Catch-22″ means “a no-win situation” or “a double...
View ArticleNew Bank fees set the stage for Merchant Issued Debit and Rewards.
The stage is set for an epic battle between the merchant community and the financial industry to win the consumers method of payment (MOP). This week, BoA joined the list of financial institutions...
View ArticleThe MasterCard/Visa settlement; an alternative point of view.
Opportunities are often difficult to recognize and they do not come with their values stamped upon them. It is often hard to distinguish between easy choices and those of opportunity; such may be the...
View ArticleDodd-Frank: thrown out again; is it a win?
As just about every pundit in the country is writing about, yesterday’s action by a Federal Judge gave the Fed another set-back by tossing out a second provision of the Dodd-Frank bill. Apparently the...
View ArticleLower fees get the headlines, but might not be the story. Why multiple...
Groucho Marx once said that “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” Judge Leon might have been better served had...
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