Latest Industry News

A place to follow industry news and developments in the world of payment methods with a clear and up-to-date perspective. From digital payments to card-based systems, from emerging technologies to market dynamics, key topics shaping the payment ecosystem come together here.

Latest_Industry

The Future of Real-Time Payments & Instant Rails

Real-time payments are rapidly becoming the new standard for both domestic and cross-border transactions. Instant settlement, 24/7 availability, and improved cash-flow visibility are reshaping how businesses and consumers move money globally.

Open Banking vs Open Finance: What Comes Next

Open Banking laid the foundation for data-driven financial services. Open Finance expands this vision, extending access beyond payments into investments, insurance, and broader financial products.

SoftPOS & MPoC: Redefining Payment Acceptance

SoftPOS is transforming smartphones into secure payment terminals. With MPoC compliance, mobile devices can now safely accept card payments without dedicated hardware.

AI in Payments: Fraud, Risk & Decisioning

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping payments by improving fraud detection, risk scoring, AML automation, and personalized customer experiences.

Regulation as a Catalyst: PSD3, PSR & Global Compliance

Payments innovation is increasingly shaped by regulation. New frameworks aim to enhance security, competition, and consumer protection while supporting innovation.

Payment Orchestration & Cost Optimization

Payment orchestration platforms are helping businesses reduce costs, increase authorization rates, and manage multiple providers through a single integration layer.

Cybersecurity & Fraud Intelligence in Payments

As digital payments expand, cyber threats evolve just as fast. Proactive intelligence is now critical to fraud prevention and brand protection.

Embedded Finance & Platform-Based Payments

Payments are no longer standalone products. Embedded finance is integrating payments directly into platforms, marketplaces, and software ecosystems.

Interchange Fee Rates
What is an interchange fee rate influenced by?

interchange

Card Network

Card networks always set rates. Visa and MasterCard are the primary players, processing 94% of all card-not-present (CNP) transactions and 83% of general-purpose credit cards.

Credit vs. Debit

Interchange fees for credit cards are always significantly higher than those for debit cards. The reasoning behind these higher rates is that credit card transactions are much riskier for issuers.
Debit cards are also less expensive due to regulations/caps imposed by the Durbin amendment.

Type of Card

Corporate purchasing cards, air miles cards, and rewards cards have higher fees because they cost banks more to maintain. Any added-perks cards will see additional costs passed onto merchants through swipe fees.

Data Compliance

The card networks publish compliance guidelines that dictate the data elements that must be sent in every authorization and settlement message to receive the best available interchange rate. Not sending required data or sending invalid data can cost merchants an incremental 1.45% on a transaction. You read this correctly…sending invalid data can cost an additional 145 basis points.

Type of Sale

Crime and fraud rates drive interchange rates because of the potential loss to the issuer. Rates are lower on card-present (CP) transactions than on online sales, which are card-not-present (CNP) transactions.

Merchant Category Code (MCC)

There are different interchange rates that apply to grocers, retailers, e-commerce merchants, non-profits, airlines, etc. These rates are driven by the MCC that is set by your merchant acquirer during the underwriting or onboarding process. The card networks offer incentive or lower rates to certain industries based on the networks strategic and competitive goals.