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NewsBriefs

312 financial institutions (FIs) receiving payments over
RTP, with a majority of those banks and credit unions
accessing the network via core processors.

Court upholds Mastercard-Visa
settlement with retailers

A federal appeals court upheld a legal settlement requiring
Mastercard and Visa to pay out $5.6 billion, or more, to
12 million-plus retailers. In doing so, the Second Circuit
Court of Appeals swatted away arguments that the class
action should not have been granted because of confusion
over who deserved compensation and that way too much
money had been awarded to the retailers' legal team.

The National Retail Federation, the National Association
of Convenience Stores and other trade groups helped to
spearhead the class-action lawsuit by businesses alleging
that Visa, Mastercard and the biggest bank issuers of
Mastercard and Visa cards conspired to overcharge
retailers on interchange in violation of federal antitrust
law.
FTC proposes click-to-cancel
subscription provision

In an ongoing effort to protect consumers from getting
stuck in endless billing cycles after canceling subscriptions,
the Federal Trade Commission proposed amending the
Negative Option Rule, which was originally introduced
in 1973. New provisions unveiled March 23, 2023, would
make opting out as easy as opting into services, according
to FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.

"Some businesses too often trick consumers into paying
for subscriptions they no longer want or didn't sign up
for in the first place," Khan said in a statement. "The
proposed rule would require that companies make it as
easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one.
The proposal would save consumers time and money, and
businesses that continued to use subscription tricks and
traps would be subject to stiff penalties."
Fintech Meetup: a tour de force

Fintech Meetup organizers welcomed more than 3,000
banking, payments and fintech professionals to the Las
Vegas Aria Resort and Casino on March 19, 2023, for three
days of presentations, demos, table talks and one-on-
one meetings. This followed two years of hosting virtual
meetings. In opening comments, Simran Rekhi Aggarwal,
founder of Fintech Meetup, said, "We can't wait to see all
the amazing opportunities that are created as a result of
the 30,000-plus meetings we're facilitating for you over the
coming days."

Aggarwal further noted that Fintech Meetup is designed
to foster collaboration. Like the tech-driven industry it
serves, she added, the platform continues to evolve, with
a Hub and Spoke feature planned for 2024 to support co-
located events, meetups and activities.
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