September 2024 Payments News Roundup
September has been a busy month in the payment processing world. From major legal news shaking up industry giants to cutting-edge technology and rate increases, we’ve seen it all.
Read on to stay informed about the biggest stories this month.
Visa Sued by DOJ For Monopolizing Debit Payment Market
On September 24th, the US Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Visa—alleging that they’ve conducted unlawful conduct and monopolized the debit network market.
The lawsuit says that Visa has violated Section 1 and Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
According to the lawsuit, over 60% of debit transactions in the US run through Visa’s network. Visa charges over $7 billion in fees annually to process those debit transactions.
The DOJ alleges that Visa is illegally insulating itself from competitors, which is why they’re being accused of antitrust monopolization. For example, Vias penalizes customers when debit transactions are routed to alternative debit networks and payment systems.
This is still a developing story, and we’ll keep you updated as we receive more information. Here’s a link to the full press release from the DOJ’s office.
New Rate Increases and Fees
We received several notices from payment processors about new rates that either went into effect in September or were announced in September. Here’s a quick summary for each one:
Fiserv
- New pass-through fees and interchange rates on October statements
- New Commercial Solutions Fee of 0.01% of acquired POS volume from business solutions products (effective 10/18/24)
- New $0.10 per authorization attempt after issuer never approve decline codes (effective 10/18/24)
- Effective October, an increase to the STAR PIN Fee to $24 per year (up from $16)
- Effective October, an increase to the ACCEL PIN Fee to $25 per year (up from $16)
Read more about Fiserv’s fees here.
Worldpay
Worldpay changed the following rates and fees effective 9/1/24:
- 0.10% + $0.02 increase per transaction
- $0.10 increase to Batch Fee
- $1.50 per month increase to On File Fee
They also announced that the VS Account Name Inquiry Fee is increasing to $0.10, effective 10/1/24. See all of Worldpay’s latest fee updates here.
Global Payments
- As of 9/2/24, Global Payments is no longer supporting 3D Secure Version 2.1.0
- New pass-through fees from card networks go into effect in October
- New dispute resolution process effective 10/19/24
- New rates for Canadian merchants on Visa and Mastercard’s Small Business Interchange program (effective 11/1/24)
For more information, check out our full history of Global Payments updates.
Heartland
- New 2024 Infrastructure Upgrade Fee of $254 to appear on October statements
- New rate increases and pass-through fees at the card network level effective 10/18/24
Read more about Heartland’s fees here.
PNC Merchant Services
- $109.95 annual fee will start appearing on September statements
- Effective $9/3/24, the Culiance Acquirer POS fee is increasing to $0.045 per transaction
See a complete breakdown of PNC’s merchant fees here.
MerchantE is Rolling Out a New Chargeback Services Program
Effective October 1, 2024, MerchantE is introducing a new Chargeback Services program. You’ll be automatically enrolled if you’re using one of the following services:
- Visa Verifi
- Visa RDR
- Mastercard Ethoca
Chargebacks will continue being billed at the current rate.
FreedomPay Announces End of Life For Legacy Hardware
FreedomPay announced that it will no longer support two of its legacy hardware solutions. Effective April 30, 2025, the following solutions will no longer be supported:
- PCI PTS V3
- PCI PTS V4
Both of these hardware solutions have already exceeded their PCI certification dates (V3 in April 2021 and V4 in April 2024).
If you’re currently using either of these solutions, you must upgrade to new hardware that meets the minimum security requirements of PTS V5 to maintain compliance within the Commerce Platform P2PE program.
Adyen’s Intelligent Payment Routing Acheive’s 26% Cost Reduction
Adyen has been testing an AI-based Intelligent Payment Routing solution for debit card payments in the US.
In a pilot program with 20+ enterprise organizations (including Microsoft, eBay, and 24 Hour Fitness), the solution achieved a 26% average cost savings and 0.22% uplift in authorization rates compared to previous performance on debit card transactions.
Some merchants saved as much as 55%, with one company saving $600,000 in just 30 days.
PayPal and Venmo Continue to Simplify Crypto Payments
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is now supported on PayPal and Venmo.
ENS is a decentralized naming system built on top of the Ethereum blockchain that turns crypto addresses into names that can be read (like yourusername.eth).
This allows users to send crypto via PayPal and Venmo without having to enter a complex wallet address.
Visa is Launching A2A Payments in Europe
On September 5, 2024, Visa announced that it’s bringing account-to-account (A2A) payment capabilities to the UK in 2025.
This will allow consumers to pay bills directly from a bank account (instead of paying by card, cash, or check).
The service—called Visa A2A—will also include things like product subscriptions, digital streaming, gym members, and more.
Noteworthy Partnerships and Acquisitions From September
Here’s a quick overview of some notable partnerships and acquisitions in the payments space from this month:
PayPal and Shopify Partner
- PayPal is becoming another provider for online credit and debit transactions for Shopify Payments in the US via PayPal Complete Payments.
- This will integrate PayPal wallet transactions in Shopify Payments to streamline orders, payouts, and chargebacks.
- It also helps create a unified experience for merchants using both PayPal and Shopify.
Here’s the full press release from 9/9/24.
Mastercard Acquires Recorded Future to Expand Cybersecurity
On September 12, 2024, Mastercard announced its acquisition of Recorded Future for $2.65 billion.
- Recorded Future serves 1,900+ clients in 75 countries, including governments and Fortune 100s.
- It’s one of the largest threat intelligence companies in existence.
- Mastercard will use this to enhance its identity, fraud prevention, and cybersecurity service in the payments world.
Vias Expands Partnerships in India
Visa has been partnering with multiple companies in an effort to expand and promote digital payments usage throughout India. During 2024’s Global Fintech Fest, Visa announced some new solutions surrounding these partnerships.
Examples include:
- Paytm partnership for Paytm NFC Card Soundbox—a device combining mobile QR payments with card machines
- Partnering with Axis Bank and Mintoak to roll out a mobile app for payments, reporting, and service requests—called Neo for merchants
- PayU partnership to introduce PushU Provisioning—a platform for card token sharing between merchants and banks
- HSBC Bank partnership for POS integration and a new Signature Debit card
Amex and Knot
American Express and Knot have launched a new pilot feature in an effort to simplify the way information is added to payments with select merchants. It’s available for select Amex customers at locations like Hilton, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s.
Knot is a fintech company that provides solutions for card-on-file management. It’s backed by Amex Ventures, which started with a Series A investment back in 2023. So it makes sense to see an Amex portfolio company collaborating with American Express on new technology.
Alibaba and Mastercard
Alibaba, a global leader in B2B ecommerce, is partnering with Mastercard to release a new co-branded credit card.
This new card is built to reward B2B merchants for cross-border transactions and domestic purchases via Alibaba.com. It also offers up to 3% cash back and 90-day order protection.
The new Alibaba Business Edge Credit Card is the brand’s first co-branded credit card in the US. The waitlist went live 9/5/24, and applications will be available by the end of the year.
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