Debit card payments continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace than in the past, and that growth has been accompanied by rising fraud losses. These are two key takeaways from a new report out of the Federal Reserve Board. The Fed was required under the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act to regulate debit card interchange, and to file a report every two years detailing costs incurred and interchange fees associated with covered debit cards. The Fed’s regulation, which applies only to debit cards issued by financial institutions with $10 billion or more in assets, caps debit card interchange at 21 cents plus 5 basis points. Issuers that meet prescribed fraud-prevention standards can adjust interchange upward by a penny.

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T-Mobile USA Inc. and TSYS partnered to remove friction and expand services to small and midsize business owners. GoPoint by T-Mobile for Business, launched March 26, 2019, is an mPOS solution designed to help SMBs grow and scale. Noting that SMBs have been overcharged and underserved, T-Mobile and TSYS disclosed plans to change the paradigm by deploying VIP services across this growing market segment. Participating merchants will have access to same-day funding and a range resources, tools and services, the companies stated.

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As the Electronic Transaction Association embarks on a new chapter under new leadership, the global trade association is honoring 40 payments executives under 40 years of age whose leadership and contributions are reshaping technology and commerce. The 2019 award recipients, chosen from more than 100 nominations in multiple industry sectors, were selected for their professional character and impact on the payments industry, ETA representatives stated. The ETA Forty Under 40 provides a platform for innovative leaders to engage with ETA members and payments industry stakeholders. This year's honorees will be recognized in the ETA's Transaction Trends magazine and at Transact, the association's annual convention and expo to be held in Las Vegas April 30 to May 2, 2019.

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Legacy players in multiple industries were stunned on March 25, 2019, when Apple Inc. unveiled a revamped technology suite to an audience of developers, sales channel partners, employees and fans. Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Cupertino gathering that all Apple products are designed with the consumer in mind. A series of presentations illustrated the multiple ways in which Apple is rethinking media, gaming and, yes, even merchant services. Richard Crone, CEO at Crone Consulting LLC, observed the unveiling and concluded Apple had curated best-in-class payment products and services while leaving friction and pain points behind.

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On the heels of news about Worldpay's pending merger with FIS comes word that Worldpay has become the first acquirer to support Amazon Pay for its merchants. Now U.S. merchants can add Amazon Pay as an accepted payment option for online customers, using Worldpay as both gateway provider and acquirer, the company stated. Amazon Pay allows consumers to pay for purchases at participating online businesses using the payment information they keep on file with Amazon. It also offers the convenience of one-click purchasing, which consumers find appealing. On the back end, a new application programming interface was designed to facilitate seamless onboarding for Amazon Pay, Worldpay representatives noted.

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The Southeast Acquirers Association will host its annual conference March 25 to 27, 2019, at the Loews Atlanta Hotel, which is located in a region numerous payments companies call home. The independent not-for-profit trade association, established in 2000, has prepared a varied menu of seminars, exhibits and presentations for a diverse audience. Event organizers noted that equipment manufacturers, finance experts, technology startups and merchant acquirers will be among attendees, speakers and exhibitors. The SEAA and other regional shows provide merchant level salespeople (MLSs) with networking, business and educational opportunities in affordable, locally situated venues, stated John McCormick, SEAA founder and board member.

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Merchant acquiring is shaping up as a battle of the titans with this week's news that Fidelity Information Services is merging with Worldpay Inc. The combination is valued at $43 billion in stock and cash to Worldpay shareholders, which works out to a 14 percent premium over Worldpay's share price, said Thomas McCrohan, managing director of financial technology and payments at the research and analytics firm Mizuho Americas. News of the FIS-Worldpay combination comes on the heels of Fiserv's acquisition of leading acquirer First Data Corp. It also comes less than two years after Cincinnati-based Vantiv paid $10.6 billion for Worldpay Group plc and rebranded the combined entity as Worldpay Inc. As of last year, Worldpay was the largest merchant acquirer in the United States in terms of card processing volume, according to the Strawhecker Group. First Data held the number four spot.

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The Federal Reserve Board disclosed March 14, 2019, that it will invite select financial institutions and payments industry stakeholders to participate in its seventh triennial Federal Reserve Payments Study. The independent research, to be conducted by McKinsey & Co. and Blueflame Consulting LLC, will separately survey banks and processors to assess banking and payment card processing trends. The study's executive sponsor, Mary Kepler, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said the Federal Reserve will publish aggregate estimates, and individual survey data will remain strictly confidential.

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Financial analysts are debating the sustainability of interactive video banking as a tool for remote deposit capture (RDC). Some experts call the service a bridge technology; others say the technology is serving underbanked populations. Both proponents and naysayers agree a supportive communications infrastructure and strong security posture are critical to success. Gene Pranger is credited with introducing the Interactive Teller Machine, an early iteration of video banking. He subsequently expanded the platform by launching POPio Mobile Video Cloud, making the service remotely accessible on mobile devices. The interactive mobile video banking solution includes video chat and tools that facilitate RDC.

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A legal loophole allows certain financial institutions and their parent companies to skirt regulatory oversight, endangering both consumers and the economy, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America. And on March 11, 2019, the organization issued a white paper setting forth why that loophole should be closed. The paper, Industrial Loan Companies: Closing the Loophole to Avert Consumer and Systemic Harm, asks the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to impose an immediate moratorium on approving deposit insurance for these companies and urges Congress to close the ILC loophole permanently, the ICBA stated in a press release announcing the paper's publication.

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Merchants and their customers may soon have an easier way to transact mobile payments. The NFC Forum is developing a new money transfer application which the standards group hopes will emerge as the go-to alternative to QR-based payments. Mobile payments are poised to snag a notable share of POS transactions. Juniper Research projects that mobile payments will total $2 trillion, or 15 percent of the value of POS transactions, globally, by 2020. Most of those transactions, however, will be rung up in Europe, the Far East and China; uptake in the U.S. has been slow.

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A new edition of Capgemini's Global Digital Mastery Series, published March 5, 2019, found financial service firms lag behind other industries in adopting and implementing digital services. The Capgemini Research Institute surveyed 360 executives and 213 companies across an array of industries for the study. They contrasted current data with an equivalent study done in 2012. Despite growing emphasis on digital transformation, researchers found, only 31 percent of banks and 27 percent of insurance companies had mastered digitalization, and only 33 percent of executives are confident in their companies' digital competencies.

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On March 4, 2019, Boston-based Aite Group LLC launched a global directory and worldwide competition to recognize digital commerce growth. The Digital Wallet Database, published in partnership with Mobey Forum, is a comprehensive listing of service providers, Aite representatives stated. The global research and advisory firm is also calling for submissions for its Digital Wallet Innovation Awards, a competition aimed at showcasing best-in-class ewallet solutions and capabilities. Aite representatives said a panel of experts will judge contestants at the 2019 Mobile Payments Conference, to be held Aug. 26 to 28 at the Swissôtel Chicago.

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Marketing research company J.D. Power completed a first-ever study of small business satisfaction with merchant services providers. It found that merchant satisfaction runs high, but that customers of the largest banks are the most satisfied overall. The J.D. Power 2019 Merchant Services Satisfaction Study evaluates small business satisfaction with 19 of the largest merchant services providers in the United States, including large banks, banks working in partnership with First Data Corp., large nonbank acquirers (scale processors), and financial technology companies (like Intuit, PayPal and Square).

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