August 2024 Payments News Roundup

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know that every month I put together a quick roundup of the biggest stories in the payments world. 

From rate increases to acquisitions, new technology, quarterly earnings reports and beyond, you can use this monthly roundup to stay current on what’s happening in our industry. 

Rate Increases and New Fees From Fiserv, TSYS, Worldpay, and BOA Merchant Services

Four major processors announced new fees and increases in August or had these new rates go into effect in August. Here’s a quick summary of those changes. 

Fiserv

Fiserv announced a new pass-through fee rate increase from Mastercard—effective 8/1/2024. The new Mastercard License Fee is 0.011% on gross processing volume from Mastercard.

Prior to August 2024, the rate was 0.008%.

For more information, refer to our Fiserv Fees and Updates page or check out our complete review of Fiserv. 

TSYS

TSYS has a new Settlement Funding Fee of 0.30% that started appearing on merchant statements in July and August. 

This is the second rate increase we found from TSYS in just three months. You can see the full history of TSYS rate changes here. We also have a TSYS review that covers all the fees you should look for on your statement that could potentially be removed or reduced.

Worldpay

We previously reported Worldpay’s $9.95 Next Day Funding Fee—but this new fee officially went into effect on August 1, 2024. 

Also in August, Worldpay announced that Visa’s Account Name Inquiry fee is increasing to $0.10 on October 1, 2024.

Read our Worldpay review to learn more. 

Bank of America Merchant Services

BOA Merchant Services announced four new rate increases in August that will go into effect in September.  

On September 1, 2024, BOA’s Late Adjustment Fee is increasing to $20 (from $17) and their Good Faith Adjustment Fee is increasing to $22 (from $15). 

On September 3, 2024, BOA’s Switch Fee is increasing to $0.045 (from $0.035) and its Exception Items Fee is increasing to $8 (from $6). 

Refer to our BOA Merchant Services Fees page for more information. 

Noteworthy Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions

• Adyen begins offering Fastlane by PayPal for guest checkouts, as the two brands expand their strategic partnership in the US.
• Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy. 
• FIS collaborates with Curinos for deposit optimizations.
• Lightspeed joins CHECK Business Tools Program from US Foods.
• Mastercard partners with Ampere in the UK for small business payments.

Capital One Continues its Push For Discover Acquisition

Capital One’s intent to purchase Discover has faced scrutiny from regulators since it was first announced back in February of this year. While the deal likely wouldn’t go through until Q1 2025 at the earliest, it still needs to be approved by federal governing bodies. 

In August, Capital One wrote an open letter to the Fed stating that the acquisition would not raise fees for consumers. 

If the $35.3 billion deal does get approved, it would create the largest credit card company in the US.

Stripe Rolls Out Adaptive Pricing in Select Markets

Stripe released a new feature in Asia Pacific and Latin American markets—in an effort to help merchants show buyer prices in local currencies. 

Merchants in those regions using Stripe can now automatically show 150+ local buyer currencies. 

JPMorgan is Piloting Biometric Payment Processing

The largest bank in the US, JPMorgan, is piloting a biometrics payment processing program across the nation—including locations at a popular chain, Whataburger.

Using “PopID” technology, customers can pay for items using a biometrics face scan.

You can read the full press release here. 

Key Takeaways From Q2 Reports: Worldpay, Toast, Global Payments, and Adyen

Q2 and 1H earnings calls from several major processors were released in August. I’ve summarized the most important information and key takeaways from each one below:

Worldpay Q2 Results Summary

• Organic revenue increased by 4% (compared to 3% in Q1).
• They put a new leader in charge of the Payments department, and want to ensure that any resellers are actually industry experts.
• From a strategy perspective, Worldpay released several new products in 1H24 and increased cross-selling deals by 15% during that stretch. 
• Worldpay is planning to follow the lead of both Visa and Mastercard by pricing payment services based on the “value” they’re providing. 

Toast Q2 Results Summary

• Total revenue increased by 27% (compared to 31% in Q1).
• Toast added 8,000 net new locations in Q2.
• Increased full year growth outlook to 27-29%.
• Toast is planning another price increase in September 2024. 

Global Payments Q2 Summary

• Net revenues increased by 5.5% in Q2 (vs. 6.6% in Q1).
• Adjusted net revenue for Merchant Solutions was up 8% (same as Q1).
• Global is still forecasting 6-7% total growth for 2024’s fiscal year. 
• They’re continuing to look for new ISVs—and new ISV partnership signings are already up by 30% YTD in 2024. 

Adyen 1H Summary

• Net revenues up 24% (compared to 23% YoY).
• Adyen is looking for continued global expansion opportunities, on the heels of obtaining new acquiring licenses in India and Mexico.
• Adyen currently has 22 platforms that cumulatively process over $1 billion in volume annually. 
• They believe their pricing in the US is very competitive compared to market alternatives, and they’re not planning to discount rates to win new clients. 

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