Block Inc., the parent of Square, is being sued for negligence leading to a December 2021 breach of its Cash App Investing service. The breach resulted in the unauthorized release of personal information on 8.2 million users to an ex-employee. The class-action lawsuit, filed Aug. 23, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Block and Cash App Investing of lax security leading to the former employee downloading sensitive customer information after leaving Block's employ.
Coincidentally, the lawsuit was filed on the same day the Washington Post published details of an explosive whistleblower complaint against Twitter by its former security chief, Peiter Zatko, a white-hat hacker who goes by the moniker Mudge.
Several payments companies were named to the much-anticipated 2022 Inc. 5000 list, some for the second or third consecutive time. The prestigious list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the U.S. economy's dynamic privately owned businesses. Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2018 to 2021.
To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. Among those who made the list are DCCS, iCheckGateyway.com, Maverick Payments, Park Hub, PayBright and VizyPay. The full list is available at www.inc.com/inc5000/2022.
A new report out of the United Kingdom claims that Apple Pay is now more popular than Mastercard. Meanwhile, here in the United States, a proposed class action lawsuit is challenging Apple's control of the tap-and-pay iOS mobile wallet market. TradingPlatforms.com, a London-based education and comparison platform for online traders, reported that Apple Pay "has surpassed Mastercard as the payment system handling the most annual transactions at over $6 billion."
The report seems to ignore an important distinction, however. "Apple Pay is just a wallet, or wrapper, not an actual payment method," noted industry consultant Don Apgar. Apple Pay and Google Pay transactions are branded mobile payments; Mastercard and Visa are branded payment networks.
The Electronic Transactions Association’s annual Fintech Policy Forum, set for Sept. 22, 2022, will engage payments industry stakeholders and government officials in substantive discussions on trending fintech and regulatory topics. The event will facilitate networking and meaningful dialog among federal and state lawmakers and payments industry leaders, ETA representatives stated.
Jodie Kelley, CEO of the ETA, noted forum participants will directly engage with officials from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ETA’s annual Fintech Policy Forum showcases leading payments executives and policymakers discussing the cutting edge of payments and policy,“ she said.
Kelley further noted the event is aimed at developing a constructive policy climate that encourages innovation while protecting consumers.
An international standards group approved a new merchant category code (MCC) for gun shops—a move that has been hailed by gun control advocates and drawn the ire of gun advocates. Right now, gun shops are not treated as a separate category of merchants, unlike, for example grocery stores and cigar stores. Typically they are categorized as sellers of durable goods or specialty retailers.
The new MCC applies only to merchants whose primary business is sales of firearms and ammunition. Big box retailers that also sell guns are not affected. Proponents have said the new MCC will help stem the tide of gun violence. A decision regarding the new MCC was announced last week by the International Organizations for Standardization, (ISO). Visa, Mastercard and American Express have all said they will comply. 
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