This the Season According to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse “Holiday E-Commerce Report.” Holiday retail sales increased by 3.4%, excluding the auto market. E-commerce sales went up 18.8% during the 2019 holiday season. Going up from the 18.4% growth rate of 2018. Mastercard’s research emphasizes how important retailer’s omnichannel strategies are. Cyber Monday was very profitable for Amazon, although they didn’t release exact...

In January 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a policy which focused enforcement against unauthorized flavored e-cigarette products that appeal to minors, including mint and fruit flavors. Under this new policy, any company that does not halt the manufacture, distribution, sale of this unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes within 30 days, will face FDA enforcement actions. HHS Secretary Alex...

The definition of a chargeback is the act of reversing a payment and returning funds to a customer. At first, it may seem as if a credit card chargeback is a traditional refund, but there is a big difference. Instead of going to the business to process a refund, the customer goes to the issuing bank which then directly takes...

January 31, 2020, 23:00 GMT, the world was still welcoming the new year, and everyone was busy working on their resolutions, while the U.K., on the other hand, had other plans to accomplish— to finally cut ties with the E.U.   Brexit was born back in 2016 by the Government of the U.K. Article 50 of the law that binds...

Transact Pro, a Latvia-based payment processing firm and its ex-chief executive have finally assented to FTC’s allegations of a phony “free-trial” offer scheme. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the accused took part in misconduct that paved the way for a fraudulent free trial offer—ripping off US customers. Andrew Smith, head of FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection —the section that...

According to the 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study, payments using debit and credit cards and the automated clearing house system (ACH) saw considerable growth from 2015 to 2018, while checks are continuously seeing a decline in use. In the study, the growth rate of noncash payments as defined by debit card, credit card, ACH, and check payments was at 6.7...

When the use of a magnetic stripe shifted towards EMV chip cards, it was marked as the most prominent payment development in the 21st century. Chip cards have been lauded for their improved security and functionality, but they are still missing the mark when it comes to addressing vital authentication problems, leaving retailers to deal with the mess. Stephanie Martz,...

A very complex topic that is driving the future of payments and financial services is that of authenticating the consumer.  All participants within the payment chain, from the merchant to the service provider to processor and finally to the bank, have a vested interest in ensuring that the customer initiating the transaction is the lawful user. However, the objective of...

Payments is one of the most dynamic sectors, judging by the buzz of activity we saw last year. New and more innovative ways to pay, mergers and takeovers, regulatory changes and so on. But we can’t base all our market predictions on 2019, travel a decade down memory lane and it dawns on you that much has changed— and will...

It hit news headlines and stirred mixed reactions when Police raided Deutsche Bank last November over claims of laundering money. Nearly 200 police officers, tax supervisors and prosecuting attorneys stormed half-a-dozen of Deutsche offices seizing both hand-written and electronic files. The blow hit Deutsche Bank, which was at that time, struggling to pick up its pieces following 3 years of...