Blog

A Guide to Competition in the U.S. Payments Market

Does network routing competition create market efficiencies? In this article, we discuss competitive interventions within the U.S. payments landscape. We compare norms pre- and postintervention and highlight key hurdles faced by merchants in extracting the value of regulation. Finally, we map out the road ahead in terms of new challenges and potential avenues for improving the payments landscape.

“Fee Changes, Right Ahead!” Diving Into Spring Card Brand Releases Around the World

In April 2024, merchants around the world faced yet another set of changes to their card acceptance fees, estimated to cost them over $250 million in the U.S. alone.

Stakeholders Respond to Proposed Revision of U.S. Debit Interchange Fee Cap

For the first time since 2011, the U.S. Federal Reserve has proposed a revision to the maximum interchange fees charged on debit card transactions in the U.S.. With the comment period on the proposal now closed, CMSPI’s Insights team has analyzed the four main arguments against the rate revisions in light of public payments data.

There’s No Such Thing as European Payments: Six Steps for Merchants Going Local

At the Merchant Risk Council’s April conference in Barcelona, CMSPI’s Timo Pauget and Martha Southall were joined by Jérémie Fave, Payment and Fraud Expert at LVMH, to ask how multinational merchants are approaching one of the most complex payments markets around.

Reserve Bank of Australia Confirms Least Cost Routing Could Reduce Merchant Debit Costs by 20%

In April 2024, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a study entitled “The Effect of Least-cost Routing on Merchant Payment Costs”, which confirmed that least cost routing could reduce merchant debit acceptance costs by 20%. Here are three major findings that Australian merchants need to know from the RBA’s analysis.

Claims Filing Deadline May 31st Fast Approaching in Payment Card Interchange Settlement: Monetary Award of $5.54 to $6.24 Billion Available to Merchants

In December 2019, the Courts approved a monetary award in U.S. antitrust litigation between merchant Plaintiffs and Visa, Mastercard, and large U.S. bank Defendants. Merchants interested in claiming settlement payments must file claims no later than May 31, 2024. This settlement opportunity is distinct from the March 2024 proposed injunctive relief settlement.

Cutting Costs, Not Corners: The 2024 Guide to Least Cost Routing for Aussies

In today’s economy, Australian businesses are keenly aware that every dollar counts, and efficiency is king. In payments, the spotlight is shining bright on least cost routing (LCR) as a mechanism for businesses to lower payments costs without compromising on customer experience. With LCR expanding to both online and mobile wallet transactions this year, what should be top of merchants’ minds?

4 Essential Steps for a Winning Tokenization Strategy

Maybe your processor has approached you with their latest token solution, or your finance team has heard about the potential interchange fee discounts?¹ Perhaps you’re even re-vamping your card processing setup and your old strategy doesn’t work anymore. Whatever the reason, tokenization is on the brain, and there are four things you should consider before making a change.

A Land of Innovation, but How Competitive is the Payments Industry? Part 2

Why are card fees so high (and ever-growing) and payment companies so profitable? And what are the options for merchants? In this blog, we will analyze market dynamics in the credit card payment industry and outline three options for merchants looking to tackle the problem.

UK Payments Regulator Proposes Reduction in Cross-Border Card Fees

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has proposed to reintroduce a cap on cross-border interchange fees levied on transactions between the UK and the EU, following an investigation launched in June 2022.

Making Data Deliver – A Deep Dive on BIN Data for Debit Routing Optimization

BIN-level analysis is one of the keys to developing actionable data-driven insights that can be used to reduce costs, drive competition, and optimize routing strategy. Read here how CMSPI approaches some of its optimization strategies with BIN-level analysis across a variety of use cases.

Managing Payments in 2023: Three of the Biggest Trends Affecting Grocery Merchants

With recent network fee increases and volume growth in costlier payment channels, it is more important than ever for grocers to find ways to optimize their costs of payments acceptance. Here, we review which three payments trends are impacting cost performance at America’s grocers most – and how they can adapt.