Watchdog set to review fees charged by Visa and Mastercard payments The UK’s top payments regulator has set out plans for two wide ranging reviews of Visa and Mastercard’s operations in the UK today amid concerns over soaring card fees.
Weekend Chat: Ex-banker turned GoCardless president Paul Stoddart talks fintech, Brexit, pandemic recovery and Russia Saturday sitdown At the start of this month, Paul Stoddart jumped ship to become the president of the newly-minted fintech unicorn GoCardless. Stoddart, who describes himself as a “banker by trade,” spent years at Natwest, Barclays, and was most recently the chairman of Mastercard’s VocaLink. In an exclusive interview with City A.M., Stoddart said that joining GoCardless [...]
Cost of borrowing surges as overdraft rates hit record highs: Credit card fees back to the ’90s Cost of living crisis: card fees Data covering quoted household interest rates on consumer credit products released by the Bank of England this week reveal the rising cost of borrowing for UK households, With the Bank hiking interest rates by 0.25bp last Thursday and inflation expected to show a climb yet again for April, the fresh data demonstrates the difficult decisions [...]
Mastercard records surge in spending as global covid restrictions ease April 28, 2022 Payments giant Mastercard recorded a surge in spending on its network in the first three months of the year as consumers splurged on holidays and shopping as global covid restrictions were eased.
Mastercard revenue inches past forecasts as travel spending makes a comeback January 27, 2022 Mastercard had its revenue inch past analyst forecasts over the past three months, as travel spending on its cards returns to pre-pandemic levels. Beyond a spike in international travel spending, which had been weighed down by the Omicron wave which began late last year, domestic spending also rose in its fourth quarter. Cross border volumes [...]
Amazon’s ruthless move to block Visa credit cards forces anxious businesses to make stark choices December 9, 2021 Amazon’s recent decision to block Visa credit cards in the UK caught millions of businesses and consumers in between. As a result, many firms have some serious and fairly urgent choices to make, as industry insiders explained to City A.M. today. Amazon announced in November that it will no longer accept payments made with UK-issued [...]
Amazon’s merciless move to block Visa likely to lead to rapid uptake of… Amazon credit cards, which are issued by Mastercard November 22, 2021 Following the news that Amazon will no longer accept payments from UK-issued Visa credit cards, some industry insiders are convinced the e-commerce giant’s decision is a calculated move to drive the adoption of the company’s own payment cards, and will give a competitive advantage to Visa’s main rival, Mastercard. Last week, the online retailer confirmed that Visa credit [...]
Obsolete: Mastercard to phase out magnetic strips on cards by 2033 August 18, 2021 Mastercard is phasing out the magnetic strip that has been the vital element of all credit and debit cards since the 1960s. The financial services giant has said that the strip is on the verge of becoming obsolete with merchants and consumers increasingly relying on chip technology to conduct transactions securely. Modern chip cards have [...]
Mastercard profits jump more than a third as easing Covid restrictions boost spending July 29, 2021 Mastercard beat expectations and posted a 36 per cent rise in profits in the second quarter, buoyed by an overall increase in spending as vaccine rollouts accelerated, lockdowns lifted and travel picked up. Adjusted net income rose 36 per cent to $1.9bn from $1.4bn in the same period last year. Corresponding earnings per share reached [...]
OFT slams ‘too high’ Visa fees October 20, 2005 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) stepped up its assault on British banks yesterday, announcing an in-depth inquiry into Visa fees. The investigation relates to so-called “interchange fees” which are levied by high street banks on retailers when they process Visa credit card transactions. In a related investigation into Mastercard fees, the OFT last month [...]