PAYMENTS NEWS
Crypto market structure bill fails in Senate vote, 49-50
Sep 17, 2026
The Senate did not advance the CLARITY Act. The procedural event has likely stalled the bill until the next Congress.
Visa, Mastercard settle Grubhub case
Sep 17, 2026
Visa and Mastercard have settled the last merchant lawsuits in an antitrust case over credit card swipe fees. A trial in the case was set to begin on Monday.
House passes Common Cents bill
Sep 17, 2026
The bill eliminates U.S. production of the penny and gives merchants leeway to round to the nearest nickel on transactions when they don’t have exact change.
Mastercard Sued by 300 Hotel Companies in UK Over Swipe Fees
Sep 10, 2026
The hotel companies are challenging Mastercard over multilateral interchange fees associated with payments made using its cards.
Trump pledges card fee cuts, again
Sep 10, 2026
The president reiterated his support for policies to cut fees associated with credit cards, noting the charges are a burden for consumers.
Illinois seeks to support cash use
Aug 31, 2026
A new state law will require retailers to accept cash for most transactions below $500, and fine repeat violators up to $5,000.
Is the nickel nearing a revamp?
Aug 31, 2026
It costs 13 cents to produce the five-cent coin. Congress wants the U.S. to explore more cost-effective methods.
CFTC chair to issue crypto rules if Congress stalls on CLARITY
Aug 21, 2026
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig has directed staff to explore potential rulemaking to create a framework for crypto exchanges in the U.S.
Visa, DOJ lawyers clash ahead of trial
Aug 21, 2026
The government and card network are trading accusations of overly broad discovery requests and ‘gamesmanship’ in the DOJ’s debit card lawsuit.
Zombie Card Attack Can Revive Expired Visa Cards for Contactless Payments
Aug 21, 2026
The attack revives expired Visa contactless credit cards for real in-store purchases by rewriting the expiration date a POS terminal reads over NFC, without breaking any of the card’s cryptography.
Visa and Mastercard Join Rain’s Agentic Commerce Coalition
Aug 20, 2026
The Agentic Payments Coalition, formed by stablecoin payments company Rain, was announced this week, listing Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv, Circle, Solana, and Remitly among its founding members.
Visa debit case turns on market definition, lawyers say
Aug 11, 2026
The card network will argue that the DOJ’s view of the debit card market is too narrow.
Senate passes cash-rounding bill
Aug 11, 2026
If enacted, the new law would provide a federal framework for how to round cash retail transactions as pennies grow scarce.
Credit Card Competition Act Gains New Senate Support
Aug 11, 2026
Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), have signed on as co-sponsors of the CCCA.
FDIC Floats Standard-Setting Body for Banks’ Fintech Partners
Aug 7, 2026
The FDIC is working with banking and fintech trade associations to establish an independent standard-setting body that would help certify whether bank service providers meet federal regulatory guidelines.
Square, Toast Jump into AI-Boosted Google Maps
Aug 6, 2026
Google is integrating elements of its Gemini AI engine into its Maps product, enabling users to ask for complex, multi-step tasks such as ordering food.
What we know about the CFPB's forthcoming open-banking rule
Aug 6, 2026
Under a revised open-banking proposal, banks are expected to be allowed to charge fees to fintechs and other third parties seeking access to customer financial data.
Use Case Evolution Is One Factor in RTP’s Instant Payments Growth
Jul 28, 2026
Business-to-business payments were one of the first use cases for instant payments when the RTP network from The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC debuted in 2017. As more businesses and consumers want to use such services, the use cases are evolving, with digital wallets—like PayPal and Venmo—now being the largest use cases on the RTP network.
Mastercard bolsters scam defense
Jul 28, 2026
Acquiring banks that process Mastercard payments are required to follow up within three days on certain flagged fraud activity.
Maryland joins states issuing chip-enabled EBT cards
Jul 24, 2026
Maryland rolls out EBT cards that use chip-and-tap technology, joining a growing list of states adopting chip-enabled EBT cards.