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NewsBriefs
This article contains excerpts from news stories recently posted under Breaking the FTC wrote. Reg II is the rule set that carries
Industry News on our homepage. For links to these and other full news stories, out the dictates of the Durbin Amendment to
please visit www.greensheet.com/breakingnews.php. the Dodd-Frank Act. The regulation caps debit
interchange rates at 0.05 percent plus 22 cents
for cards issued by financial institutions with
$10 billion or more in assets.
UK boosts tap and go transaction limits
British finance leaders raised the spending
limit for contactless card payments following
Feds push for more debit routing choice a public discussion with retail and banking
leaders, according to Her Majesty's Treasury
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice want and the Financial Conduct Authority. The new
the Federal Reserve Board to take a tougher stance on ensuring plan, which goes into effect Oct. 15, 2021, will
merchants get to choose which networks are used to process their enable British retailers to accept contactless
card-not-present debit transactions. In separate letters to the Fed, transactions of up to £100 at the POS, UK
the two agencies gave a thumbs up to a Fed proposal clarifying government officials stated.
its rules on debit routing choice, but suggested the rules should
explicitly prohibit "routing-based incentives." This will be the second increase in two years,
following the April 2020 decision to raise the
"Eliminating routing-based incentive programs will make it less contactless price limit from £30 to £45. David
likely that issuers will search for ways to circumvent Regulation II," Postings, chief executive at UK Finance, stated
he has seen growing interest in touchless
commerce. "The increase in the limit to £100 will
allow people to pay for higher value transactions
like their weekly shop or filling up their car with
fuel," he said.
Consumers want mobile-first
bill pay, survey finds
A Recent survey by PayNearMe reflects demand
for faster, simpler, more personalized bill pay
applications. The report, How Consumers Pay
Bills: Expectations vs. Reality, based on a survey
of 2,676 U.S. consumers, disclosed widespread
discontent with existing bill payment options
and features. Anne Hay, head of consumer
research at PayNearMe, pointed out that mobile
and digital apps have simplified banking
and payments, throwing arcane bill payment
methods into sharp relief.
"Today's ecommerce experiences are fast,
easy and frictionless," she said in a statement.
"For example, with technologies like facial
recognition, consumers never have to log in
or remember a password to make a payment."
Steven Kramer, vice president, product at
PayNearMe, agreed, emphasizing the need to
make bill payments more personal.
Demand spikes for payments
at speed of commerce
To the list of trends accelerated by the COVID-19
pandemic, add demand for faster payments.
Results of a survey released recently by the
Federal Reserve reveal that three out of four
businesses now consider it important to offer
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