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NewsBriefs

This article contains excerpts from news stories recently posted under Judge scuttles $30 billion proposed settlement
Breaking Industry News on our homepage. For links to these and other between card brands, merchants
full news stories, please visit www.greensheet.com/breakingnews.
A federal district court judge in New York rejected a pro-
posed $30 billion settlement intended to resolve a nearly
20-year legal battle between merchants and card giants
Visa and Mastercard. The lawsuit, filed in 2005, accused
the card brands and banks of inflating interchange fees
and engaging in anti-competitive practices. In March 2024,
a proposed settlement aimed to lower interchange fees by
four basis points, halt fee increases for four years, elimi-
nate anti-steering rules, and simplify dual pricing.

php. Merchants, represented by groups like the National Gro-
Fed's debit cap plan under fire cers Association and the Merchants Payments Coalition,
welcomed the decision, arguing the settlement would
A group of lawmakers, led by Senator Ted Budd, R-N.C., have allowed continued price-fixing and insufficiently ad-
aims to halt the Federal Reserve's proposal to lower debit dressed rising swipe fees. The National Retail Federation
card interchange fees. The Secure Payments Act would criticized the negotiations for excluding many merchants.
require the Fed to conduct a full impact study before pro- Visa and Mastercard expressed disappointment, main-
ceeding. The current cap, set by the Durbin Amendment taining that the settlement was fair and beneficial..
to the Dodd-Frank Act, is 21 cents and 5 basis points, with
an additional penny for fraud prevention. The Fed pro- SCOTUS deals blow to Fed in
poses reducing it to 14.4 cents, 4 basis points, and 1.3 cents debit interchange challenge
for fraud costs. Critics argue the proposal could harm con-
sumers and disenfranchise low-income consumers, with The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a North Dakota merchant
banks scaling back low-cost accounts. to sue the Federal Reserve over debit card interchange
caps, despite the merchant opening for business after the
Budd highlighted the decline in free checking accounts statute of limitations expired. Historically, the six-year
and increased fees since the original caps in 2011. Trade limit for federal regulation lawsuits, under the Adminis-
associations for banks and credit unions support the Act, trative Procedure Act, starts on the date of enactment.
emphasizing the need for resources to serve rural and un-
derserved communities and warning that the Fed's pro- However, the Supreme Court ruled that the limitations pe-
posed changes could increase banking costs by $2 billion riod begins when a business is injured by a regulation. In
annually. 2014, merchants sued the Fed, claiming the debit cap was
too high, but the Supreme Court declined the case. In 2018,
Electronic Payments champions Corner Post Inc. opened a truck stop and convenience store
merchants with POS Bill of Rights and joined the lawsuit in 2021. Lower courts dismissed the
case due to the expired statute of limitations. But on July 1,
Electronic Payments Inc. introduced the POS Bill of Rights 2024, the Supreme Court reversed this. This ruling could
on June 25, 2024, to enhance merchant experiences by em- prompt more lawsuits from businesses opening post-en-
phasizing transparency, trust, and satisfaction. Celebrat- actment. Merchant groups welcomed the decision, argu-
ing 24 years in business, the company prides itself on ing ongoing harm from the high cap. However, dissenting
its consistent innovation within the payments industry. justices warned it could eliminate any limitations period
Founder and CEO Michael Nardy highlighted that Elec- for APA lawsuits.
tronic Payments' success stems from supporting clients
with advanced technology and relevant products. Also find us on Facebook,
LinkedIn & Twitter for the
The POS Bill of Rights, which includes principles like
transparent pricing, reliable system uptime, data privacy, most up-to-date stories,
responsive customer support, and fair contract terms, un- can’t miss events and newest
derscores their commitment to merchants. Steve Messe- industry announcements.
mer, the company's director of POS products, noted that
this initiative will set new industry standards, ensuring
reliable and supportive environments for businesses us-
ing EPI's systems. Nardy, who began Electronic Payments
in his Boston College dorm room, has grown the company
to serve thousands of merchants nationwide with over https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenSheetInc
1,000 agents and 150+ staff. https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-green-sheet
https://twitter.com/The_Green_Sheet
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