If you missed our Advanced Payments workshop in San Francisco last month, tune in to this episode to hear Yvette Bohanan and Russ Jones discuss the key topics and conversations from the session, including card network updates, stablecoins, and agentic commerce.
“So, have fees gone up?” Yvette Bohanan starts with the tough question in this Fanning the Flames episode.
In our August Payments Post, Chris Uriarte and Justin Pituch observed an underlying theme of broad downward pressure on the cost of merchant processing as well as fee backlash directed toward card networks.
Tune in to hear our thoughts on these fees and the impact on stakeholders across the industry.
Interchange is fundamental to open loop card system economics and a mystery to many, especially to merchants who must pay it but don't perceive any benefit from it. It's a non-optional component of what the merchant pays to accept cards. It's one element of the merchant discount fee. Despite the stubborn fact of it, there are ways for some merchants to make sure they pay as low a rate as possible.
One of last year's most anticipated advances in fraud management was the final release of EMVCo's 3D Secure 2.0 protocol specification. Designed to take a risk-based approach to authorization and lower the checkout friction of its predecessor, 3DS2 will be a new tool in the growing anti-fraud arsenal.
Chargebacks are one of the card system's great consumer benefits. If fraud happens, the merchant doesn't deliver on what was promised, or you're charged six times for something you bought just once, the chargeback mechanism returns your money or restores your credit. What's not to like? Well, if you're a merchant, a lot. While there are plenty of legitimate chargebacks, there are also consumers who take advantage of the system through "friendly fraud," the "I didn't do it" chargeback category abused by all too many.
Interchange galvanizes the attention of regulators around the world like iron filings to a magnet. Everyone in card payments watches their moves closely because of its economic impact on merchants, card networks, issuers, acquirers and, in theory, consumer pricing. European regulators are among the most recent to weigh in.
