Account-to-account payments, also known as pay-by-bank, is set to take off in the United States, and cannabis dispensaries may be the launching pad. CanPay, a payment network designed for cannabis retailers and consumers, just announced it has received approval from the State of Utah's Division of Finance to provide payment acceptance services to pharmacies selling medical marijuana statewide.

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Consumers may feel somewhat insecure, financially, and budget conservatively for the holiday season. But many are prepared to overspend, according to a survey conducted by The Strawhecker Group and the Electronic Transactions Association. This bodes well in terms of revenue generation for merchants, and for acquirers that deliver the support merchants need.

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Merchants face more scrutiny and stricter underwriting these days, according to Verifi's 2024 Global Fraud and Payments Report, which found a sharp increase in fraud volumes and variety in North America. Shieldify CEO Michael Zavet discussed these trends with The Green Sheet, sharing advice on how to boost merchant approval rates and keep accounts in good standing.

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This week we're highlighting a partnership between Visa aimed to promote financial inclusion and economic growth globally, a reaction to the UK Treasury's decision to allow banks to delay payments for up to 72 hours to investigate fraud, a note on high-end resorts and casinos use of IP video technology, and a masterclass on check and real-time payments fraud.

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Walmart Business, a unit of the mega-retailer that caters to small businesses and nonprofits, is now selling Clover, Fiserv's cloud-based all-in-one POS solution. Walmart Business customers can take advantage of a $500 rebate on the purchase of Clover Flex, Mini, Station Solo or Station Duo, and receive a $100 Walmart eGift card for setting up a new merchant services account through the arrangement with Fiserv.

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For Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Tim Barnett, CIO at Bluefin, touched base with The Green Sheet to explore several aspects of payment security.

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A new report from ACI Worldwide forecasts that real-time payments will generate $285.8 billion in additional global GDP growth by 2028. What's more, real-time payments will be a game changer in terms of helping to lift folks out of poverty.

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Following are two news flashes. The first is an alert about a scam targeting hotel bookings for the Northeast Acquirers Association's 40th anniversary show; the second announces an advanced educational offering on compliance from the ETA.

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Same-day ACH is going great guns. Nacha reported that the ACH network handled 355.2 million same-day payments in the third quarter of 2024, a whopping 67.5 percent increase over the same period in 2023. The combined value of same-day payments rose 38.8 percent over the third quarter of 2023 to total $844 billion.

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Visa entered into an exclusive partnership with Analytic Partners, a global analytics solution firm, with an eye toward addressing the commercial challenges faced by merchants and brands, such as improving returns on advertising investments, through the use of value-enhancing artificial intelligence-driven data analytics.

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Consumer spending is strong and that bodes well for the winter holiday shopping season. The National Retail Federation is forecasting holiday spending will grow between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent over 2023. That works out to between $979.5 billion and $989 billion in total holiday spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024, compared with $955.6 billion during the same period last year.

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Today, we've highlighted the U.S. Treasury Department's urging for a federal framework for nonbank payment service providers to simplify simplify the existing regulatory patchwork, promote innovation and protect consumers; a new marketing resource specifically designed for ISOs, a significant cyberattack on global money transfer service MoneyGram; and reaction to UK's plan to grant banks powers to delay payments by up to 72 hours to investigate suspected fraud or scams.

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Restaurant POS and management system provider Toast raised its processing fees for small and midsize clients, stating it marked the first such increase in the company’s 12-year history. The adjustment, which took effect in September 2024, increased fees by between 0.05 percent and 0.23 percent for a limited number of clients, translating to less than a penny per $1 transaction.

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Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill., is rejecting claims that an Illinois law exempting sales tax and gratuities from interchange assessments conflicts with the Durbin Amendment, a provision of the Dodd Frank Act that he authored back in 2010. The Durbin Amendment, among other things, empowered the Federal Reserve to cap debit card interchange assessments by the largest banks (those with $10 billion or more in assets).

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The battle lines are firming up over an Illinois law that would exempt sales tax and tips from interchange assessments. The latest entity to join in the fight is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which filed an amicus brief backing financial institutions that want to block the new law.

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Vincent Gaudel, financial crime compliance expert for LexisNexis Risk Solutions recently shared his views on thematic sanctions with The Green Sheet. Following is the resulting Q&A covering the distinction between thematic sanctions and traditional country-based sanctions, what types of financial crimes that typically lead to imposition of thematic sanctions, how thematic sanctions affect financial institutions' compliance obligations, and more:

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Highlights from this week range from a study on SMB perspectives on integrated payments and embedded finance to a new voice AI productivity tool designed to eliminate keyboards to a free guide to help online retailers prepare for the coming holidays, and changes at Amazon affecting thousands of SMBs.

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Fraud related to digital payments is running amok, resulting in many consumers rethinking their trust in digital payments. Two recent surveys illustrate this phenomenon. Among consumers surveyed by the insurance company Chubb, 61 percent had changed their behavior or reduced their use of payment platforms due to fears about cyber scams.

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Merchants are cheering the Department of Justice civil lawsuit alleging Visa monopolizes the debit card network business in violation of federal antitrust laws. The lawsuit also includes allegations that Visa entered into agreements that hindered the expansion of competing networks and also blocked technology companies from entering the market.

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Ofer Friedman, chief business development officer at AU10TIX, recently contacted The Green Sheet to share common myths and misperceptions associated with ID fraud prevention. Following is a Q&A that resulted.

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