Feb
22

Bankers Increasingly See Mobile as Key Element of Their Retail Strategies, American Banker Research Finds

But Regulation and Risk Management Will Remain the Big Drivers of IT Spending Decision-Making

 

 NEW YORK, NY, Feb 21, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Bankers increasingly see mobile technology as a must-have component of their retail offerings, but say that regulatory and risk-management concerns will dominate IT spending initiatives in 2012, according to a recent American Banker Research survey conducted in partnership with bank technology and payment systems specialists Tata Consultancy Services, TSYS, and Jack Henry and Associates.

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Feb
15

How New Hampshire’s Proposed Swipe-Fee Cap Could Hurt Consumers

From: U.S. News

By Tim Chen

The highly contentious Durbin Amendment went into effect only four months ago, but its effects are already reverberating throughout the banking sphere. Most visibly, some banks are raising their checking account fees: Chase nixed its debit rewards program, while Bank of America and Citibank raised fees or minimum balance requirements.

But the Durbin aftershocks don’t end there. The rise of prepaid debit, the credit union groundswell, the growing number of unbanked Americans, and the ever-improving credit card offers can all, in part at least, be traced back to interchange regulation. But for all the sound and the fury, many merchants say their profits have stayed flat or even fallen.

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Feb
08

Europe Regulation May Be in the Cards

From: Barron’s

There are expectations for action on debit and credit transactions.

Morgan Keegan

There are increasing expectations of a near-term regulatory action from the European Commission concerning Visa Europe Interchange rates for both debit and credit transactions.

This is a topic that has been brewing for some time, with the European Commission scrutinizing interchange rates on numerous occasions over the past 10 years. While the most recent comments from Joaquín Almunia (the European Commissioner responsible for competition) have only referred to Visa Europe, previous comments from the Commissioner indicate that both Visa Europe and MasterCard (ticker: MA) activities are likely under review.

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