24 Mar 25 @ 09:38

Digital payments in Hungary have just become easier, cheaper and faster with the ‘qvik’ instant payment service, which was launched by the central bank in September 2024. Consumers are now... read more

10 Dec 24 @ 10:13

EU antitrust regulators are scrutinising Visa and Mastercard’s Scheme Fee structures as they investigate whether these charges pose an undue burden on European retailers. With a detailed set of questionnaires... read more

22 Oct 24 @ 14:10

Open banking in the UK and Europe was introduced in 2018, with regulations mandated by the EU’s Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). Six years later, has it caught on in... read more

22 Oct 24 @ 13:46

The card giants are facing collective UK claims for historical multilateral interchange fee (MIF) overcharging. The Competition Appeal Tribunal has approved UK businesses to seek compensation for losses due to... read more

31 May 24 @ 13:34

Weeks after reaching a landmark $30 billion settlement on interchange fees designed to provide relief to retail businesses, Mastercard appears to be planning to increase certain credit card fees beginning... read more

02 May 24 @ 10:02

A moment of drama, such as sometimes happens in payments, came during the recent MPE conference in Berlin. A UK retailer responded to Visa’s claim that payment networks add far... read more

24 Oct 23 @ 09:52

Back in September 2022, 1,668 retailers and more than 200 trade organisations urged the US Congress to pass the The Credit Card Competition Act, which gives merchants a choice in... read more

14 Aug 23 @ 16:15

As Open Banking services approach take-off in some European markets and the US fires up its regulatory engine, we ask: how can banks make money out of Open Banking? It’s... read more

14 Aug 23 @ 14:27

The 2023 version of The Global Payments Report by Worldpay, has revealed that Account to Account payments are now worth $525 billion globally – and are projected to grow at... read more

06 Jun 23 @ 13:27

Open Banking services are taking off world-wide. But questions remain about how some players – especially banks – can make money out of this new era. As Variable Recurring Payments... read more

16 Feb 23 @ 16:18

New technologies such as Account-to-Account payments and Open Banking are taking intermediaries out of the value chain in payments, while fresh advances in blockchain threaten total disintermediation. James Wood looks... read more

29 Dec 22 @ 04:23

From Open Banking and instant payments through the Next Big Thing in crypto, James Wood reads the cards to find out what’s coming next in the new year. Those who... read more

29 Dec 22 @ 03:53

With pressure on margins in payments growing, major banks are said to be looking at how they can capitalise on the wide range of smaller institutions and clients looking for... read more

25 Aug 22 @ 12:18

Some experts say cards are a legacy technology while digital wallets and alt-pays are the future. But more powerful cards with multiple functions and better security are fighting back. So... read more

26 May 22 @ 09:43

Request to Pay (R2P) is a hot industry buzzword. While still in its infancy, R2P promises greater control and faster settlement for consumers and businesses alike. James Wood goes under... read more

26 May 22 @ 09:20

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2022 will be remembered for many things, including the deepest recession since the 1930s and subsequent economic turmoil. Although Europe’s economies have largely recovered, turmoil remains... read more

21 Apr 22 @ 09:48

As both Visa and Mastercard announce higher charges for e-commerce transactions and almost two-thirds of Europeans now bank online, it seems the popularity of alternative payment methods, or “alt-pays”, continues... read more

17 Feb 22 @ 14:36

A new report by card industry body Payments Europe claims Europeans would welcome government intervention to mandate electronic payment. The report also says that, while instant, or account-to-account, payments are... read more

17 Feb 22 @ 14:04

As reported in Payments Cards & Mobile, Amazon announced in November that it would stop taking payments from Visa credit cards issued in the UK, because of sky-high fees. Interchange... read more

27 Oct 21 @ 12:01

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the latest buzzword in payments. While these digital instruments linked to blockchain might be rich in possibility, they’re also fraught with risk – as James Wood... read more