“You may be accustomed to Venmoing your friends to split a check at dinner. But what about using Venmo or Zelle to pay for a soda at a convenience store? Some merchants may ask you to do just that. But know that if you opt to whip out your phone rather than your card, you could be an unwitting participant in a long-simmering and increasingly fiery fight over interchange fees, which has pit many merchants against banks and credit card networks.   That fight has evidently led at least some small businesses to lean into p2p payment platforms, according to survey data from Business.com. But there are some additional costs, according to Corie Wagner, the site’s senior editor of industry research, that may be pushing small businesses away from credit cards. “Besides a simplified fee structure, there’s the reduced equipment required to accept payments, and the systems that need to be set up can be too cumbersome [for business owners],” Wagner says. The most important thing, though, is that “it’s cheaper and easier,” she adds.”

“The Federal Reserve Board on Friday invited public comment on proposed changes to Regulation II (Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing) to clarify that debit card issuers should enable, and allow merchants to choose from, at least two unaffiliated networks for card-not-present debit card transactions, such as online purchases. The Board views these clarifications of Regulation II’s existing requirements as necessary in light of information indicating that often only one network is enabled for such transactions. Additionally, the Board published today a biennial report containing summary information on debit card transactions in 2019.”

“U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin and a Vermont Congressman want the Federal Reserve to look into what they say are efforts by debit card issuers “aided by the dominant card networks” to prevent PIN-debit networks from getting a bigger share of booming card-not-present payment volume. “The Federal Reserve should consider appropriate enforcement action and policy responses to correct any such anticompetitive incentives and regulatory violations,” says a July 24 letter to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell signed by Durbin, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat who has monitored payment card acceptance issues for at least a dozen years.”

“The debit interchange controls of the Durbin amendment went into effect seven years ago Monday, and to mark the occasion the Electronic Payments Coalition issued its latest salvo in what appears to be a never-ending feud over that law. According to survey results released by the EPC, 52% of registered voters say they have seen no discounts from merchants arising from Durbin since the law’s interchange caps took effect. Moreover, 29% of these voters say “processing companies” should determine interchange rates, not the government. Some 24% say likewise for retailers.”