In the final days of 2021, fintech startup lopay boldly entered the payments scene with a message from its CEO, Richard Carter, to industry leading SumUp, Zettle and Square. 'We knew the time was right to break the stranglehold the big three had over this sector," Carter said in a Dec. 23, 2021, statement. "And that's what we're doing. The ethos behind lopay is simple: everyone should have more control over the money they earn and access the rates they deserve."

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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have been using credit, debit and prepaid cards less frequently, but when they do pay with cards they tend to spend more. They also have been using low-contact payment methods, like ecommerce, digital wallets and the automated clearin house (ACH), a lot more. These are key findings contained in a report just released by the Federal Reserve Board.

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If you’ve been out and about this holiday season, you’ve no doubt seen the Salvation Army’s iconic Red Kettles. The kettles and bell ringers, common to big box stores and shopping malls this time of year, beckon shoppers to deposit extra cash to help fund the charity’s social service programs. And this year, Red Kettles in select cities are also accepting contactless donations. Visa has been piloting a program with the Salvation Army to tap-and-go enable 2,000 Red Kettle stations across the East and West Coasts. With stations in places like Washington, DC, San Francisco, Sacramento and Southern California, Visa is also working with tiptap, a Canadian firm that builds NFC-enabled wireless devices for contactless giving applications.

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Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions (Wnet), disclosed Dec. 20, 2021, that it has partnered with PSCU, a leading credit union service organization. In addition to fostering diversity and inclusion, the partnership will enable both organizations to drive growth and personal enrichment, stated Wendy Holliday, M.Ed., CAE and CEO at Wnet.

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H&R Block doesn’t like the idea of Square renaming itself Block Inc. The tax-prep company filed a lawsuit against Block asserting that the payments company’s new name infringes upon the H&R Block family of trademarks. Square changed its corporate name to Block Inc., effective Dec. 10, 2021, although its official NYSE ticker symbol remains SQ. It also left in tact all of its various service offering names, like Square POS and Square Capital.

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Growing adoption of buy now, pay later (BNPL) options at checkout prompted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to request information from leading BNPL providers about debt accumulation, regulatory arbitrage and data harvesting practices. Initiated Dec. 16, 2021, CFPB orders seek details on deferred payment options at point of purchase, stated Rohit Chopra, director at the CFPB.

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Consumers, concerned that supply chain challenges will crimp holiday shopping plans, are expected to purchase more gift cards this year than previously. That's a key takeaway from survey results just released by Fiserv. In a related development, the Federal Trade Commission reported that consumers lost at least $148 million to gift card scams in the first nine months of the year. That's nearly a 28 percent increase over the $116 million in total losses reported during all of 2020.

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A Visa bulletin concerning cashless ATMs, published Dec. 2, 2021, is causing a stir in the ATM and cannabis industries. At issue is a prevalent scheme involving POS devices posing as ATM terminals and routing sale transactions through debit card networks to make sales look like ATM cash withdrawals. This practice violates Core Rules and Product and Service Rules for both its payment card and debit card networks, Visa representatives stated.

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With year-end holiday shopping in full swing, The Green Sheet touched based with Jason Howard, executive vice president of Ethoca, a provider of ecommerce fraud and chargeback protection. Following are highlights from the interview:

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Recent changes to the BSA/AML Examination Manual, introduced in December 2021 by the Federal Financial Examination Council, may help stabilize banking relationships within the retail ATM sector, according to Bruce Renard, executive director of the National ATM Council Inc.

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Visa wants to help financial institutions tap into the crypto market. The card company just launched its new Global Crypto Advisory Practice, part of its consulting arm, to help clients and partners “advance their crypto journey.”

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A class action lawsuit filed Nov. 23, 2021, could impact a broad network of sub-ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) associated with Priority Payment Systems LLC and Priority Technology Holdings Inc. In the complaint, a large class of merchants, represented by Atlanta-based law firm Webb, Klase & Lemond LLC, accuses Priority representatives of enrolling customers under false pretenses and subsequently inflating contracted fees.

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What's in a name? Apparently for big tech firms' corporate names are not carved in stone. Payments giant Square just revealed it's changing its corporate name to Block, effective Dec. 10, 2021. The move follows on the heels of Facebook's decision to rename itself Meta.

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The National Retail Federation reported on Nov. 30, 2021, that 2021 Black Friday sales exceeded expectations, with 179.8 million shoppers making in-store and online purchases over the holiday weekend. The NRF expects these increases to continue, based on early data culled from the association's October and November surveys, NRF analysts stated.

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Growing popularity of subscription-based services prompted Mastercard to update guidelines for direct marketing, continuity and subscription merchants classified as MCC 5968 in Mastercard's merchant category code list. Revised rules require "high-risk negative option billing merchants" to be transparent and responsive with customers enrolled in free trials and subscription services, according to Mastercard's Security Rules and Procedures – Merchant Edition, published Feb. 9, 2021, and subsequent bulletin distributed in November.

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