by Matt Rej
We’re always keeping a close eye on trending stories in the payment processing space and how those updates impact merchants. Here’s a roundup from July:
New Global Payments Fee Announced
Global Payments announced a new Annual System Enhancement Fee that will be billed at $529 per year. While the announcement was made in July, the fee won’t start hitting merchant accounts until October.
This is on the heels of Global’s Infrastructure Upgrade fee that jumped to $499 annually in June.
We’ve seen the same playbook used by Global Payments over the years. New names, but they’re all just annual fees used to pad their margins.
Shift4’s New Annual Service and Maintenance Fee Will Hit Accounts in August
Shift4’s new Annual Service and Maintenance Fee will begin hitting merchant accounts in August.
Based on the notices our clients have received, the fee will range anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 per year.
This new fee is a consolidation of two annual fees that Shift4 used to charge (Annual Program Fee and Regulatory Assurance Fee). But Annual Service and Maintenance costs more than both of those two other fees combined.
Stripe Wants to Buy PayPal
Stripe has partnered with Advent International on a joint offer to buy PayPal for $53.4 billion.
If PayPal agrees to the sale, we’re still far out from an actual merger taking place, as both sides would still need to conduct their due diligence and the acquisition would be subject to regulatory approval.
PayPal’s earnings have struggled lately, and they fired their CEO earlier this year. This looks like Stripe is seizing a potential opportunity to buy a competitor and expand its market share while PayPal shareholders are just looking for better returns at all costs.
Louisiana’s New Debit Card Surcharge Ban Goes Into Effect August 1st
Merchants in Louisiana are officially prohibited from surcharging debit card transactions effective August 1, 2026.
While debit card surcharging is already banned nationwide through a combination of federal rules and card network guidelines, new state-level debit card surcharge laws are aimed to tackle local enforcement.
Under Louisiana’s new law, customers can recover damages against businesses who violate the ban, and the state’s Attorney General is required to maintain a reporting system for complaints.
Samsung Launches New Credit Card Issued by Barclays
Samsung just launched its first credit card in the US. The Samsung Galaxy Card is a digital-first payment designed for Galaxy devices (similar to the Apple Card for Apple devices).
The new Samsung card is issued by Barclays and runs on Visa’s network. There’s no annual fee, 5% cash back on Samsung direct purchases, 3% on Samsung Wallet purchases, 2% on eligible streaming services, and 1% on everything else.
Here’s the full press release from Barclays.
Illinois IFPA Delayed Again
The landmark Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act that was set to take effect on July 1, 2026 has been pushed back again a full year to July 2027.
Illinois lawmakers have been attempting to ban interchange fees on tax and tips for years. And while the law has passed, its effective date remains in limbo. This was originally set to take effect in July 2025, and this year’s delay at the eleventh hour makes you wonder whether it will ever go into effect.
I have a full write-up on why this was pushed back and what it means for the future of this law.
Fiserv Explores Sale of Debit Network
Fiserv is shopping around the sale of one of its debit card networks, either STAR or Accel.
Some of the banks reportedly involved in these discussions include big names like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase.
Acquiring a debit network could allow one of these large banks to circumvent current interchange caps on debit card transactions. And Fiserv could offload a non-critical asset for quick cash at a time when the company is struggling to show growth to shareholders.
While this may seem like a good deal for both sides, Fiserv selling a debit network could ultimately raise merchant fees.
Mastercard Launches New Digital Wallet Services
On July 15, 2026, Mastercard rolled out a new mobile payment ecosystem called Mastercard Wallet Services.
While mobile wallets have been around for a while, Mastercard’s new offering is a combination of software and services that let businesses add contactless payments to their apps. It’s supported on both iOS and Android through the developer SDK.
Mastercard says these new digital wallet capabilities have features that can benefit consumers by the end of this year. It’s also designed for merchants, FinTechs, and banks.
Square Rolled Out New Integrations With ChatGPT and Claude
Earlier this month, Square announced a new Claude app and ChatGPT plugin to help merchants use AI to increase sales.
Merchants can be found by customers using these AI platforms to find restaurants, look at menus, and place orders online. Sellers can opt in and manage their AI discoverability directly through their Square dashboard without having to do any technical work, API builds, or configurations on the backend.
Industry Leaders Join Nonprofit to Standardize AI Payments
The x402 Foundation officially launched on July 14, 2026.
Payment leaders like Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Fiserv, and Stripe (among others) have joined this nonprofit to help build a secure open-source protocol for agents using AI to process payments.
New Rounding Standards as Pennies Phase Out
The US House of Representatives passed the Common Cents Act on July 14, 2026, and is currently pending further action in the Senate.
If enacted into law, the bill would establish national rounding standards on cash transactions as the penny gets phased out.
Currently, there is no national law regulating how businesses handle cash transactions without pennies. Though several states have passed their own cash-specific rounding rules.
Under the Common Cents Act proposal, cash totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 would round down to the nearest nickel, while totals ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 would round up to the nearest nickel.
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