Compliance

The U.S. Treasury is talking to digital payments providers about quick ways to disburse funds to recipients of stimulus checks within a couple of weeks, but payments industry experts foresee troubling security issues even with most of the obvious options.

Mastercard has increased the contactless payment limit to CA$250 across Canada to provide consumers with a safer way to pay during the coronavirus pandemic.

Interchange fees are a major part of the costs merchants pay to accept payment cards. While merchants seek relief from fees during a time in which their businesses face serious damage from stay-at-home edicts because of coronavirus, the credit card companies and banks quickly began to dig in their heels.

Payments gateway and financial crime compliance technology provider Pelican is partnering with Banking Labs to serve banks and corporations in Canada.

While much of the world is sheltering at home to deter the spread of coronavirus, there's still a need for essential workers to travel — and an opportunity for the development of in-car payments technology, which could allow consumers to pay for gas or food without handling cash or other potentially infected surfaces.

With coronavirus driving more merchants to promote electronic payments over cash — and contactless payments over cards — many are still asking their customers to share a potentially virus-laden pen to sign a receipt or screen at the point of sale.

With coronavirus presenting significant challenges for retailers and the technical challenges of imposing interchange fee changes in the networks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are holding off on the updates.

It's still unclear how the coronavirus pandemic will alter payment habits over time — will consumers avoid cash out of fear of germs, or will they favor it as the one payment option that nearly all merchants accept? An impending change in interchange rates may tip the scales in cash's favor.

Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and banks that issue credit cards went on high alert Wednesday when the National Restaurant Association asked President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to cut the so-called swipe fees incurred every time a customer pays with plastic.