What GAO card study means to interchange legislation & NY lawsuit.
November 20, 2009
GAO: Let Card-Fee System Stand | online.wsj.com
The GAO study of bankcard interchange fees is a mixed bag for the industry. It upholds the practice (in contradiction to the lawsuit against the practice in New York) but points to numerous ideas about how its excesses can be reduced. The latter could propel the Welsh bill in Congress toward enactment. It would allow merchant actions to pressure issuers to accept lower interchange fees. The study's ideas could also play a role in crafting a settlement of the NY suit.
Populist Politics Threaten Card Industry Recovery & Survival
November 19, 2009
US Credit Card Sector Faces Punitive Hostility | www.ft.com
The letter in today's FT (I am one of the authors) questions whether new and proposed legislation by Congress can kill the credit card industry.
Retail discounts won't revive our economy
November 9, 2009
Catering to the Recession Mentality | online.wsj.com
The article is about the struggle of retailers to lure consumers to stop worrying about the economy and start spending again. Their bait is aggressive discounting. The question not only is whether it will work but whether other factors will wipe out the best laid discounts.
Loss of arbitration of cardholder disputes could sink card industry
October 15, 2009
Turmoil in Arbitration Empire Upends Credit-Card Disputes | online.wsj.com
Although the article is about an investor's failed bet on arbitration of card disputes, the bigger fail will belong to the card industry -- the 1 billion bank and private label cards held by 200 million consumers. Issuers of those cards have all but lost the right require arbitration and the enormous protection arbitration brings against class actions. With the NAF gone kaput and the AAA refusing to fill the void, issuers now face massive, potentially crippling new risks .
Threats to make CARD Act worse and to regulate interchange fees
October 6, 2009
Banks Face Pressure to Bend on New Agency - American Banker Article | www.americanbanker.com
The article is about the wrangling in Congress to enact a so-called "Consumer Protection Agency." But it carries a threat to bankers. If they don't stop trying to block a CPA, Congress will enact piecemeal bills that will prevent card issuers from being able to reprice in response to the CARD Act and will regulate interchange pricing downward.
Bankcard industry lobbies Congress to leave interchange fees alone
September 22, 2009
Lafferty Group - Interchange battle rages on | www.lafferty.com
The primary story here is not the card industry's standard defense of bankcard interchange fees. It is that Visa and industry trade associations are responding to the clear and present danger that an angry Congress is going to side with merchants by enacting a law to limit interchange fees. Their defense of the fee is that polling of consumers shows a wide majority in favor of charging merchants for accepting cards. But it doesn't address whether current fees are too high and unfairly applied.
Bank stocks will crumble in the coming months
August 14, 2009
Stocks Slip as Banks Pull Back | online.wsj.com
The WSJ article suggests a modest, temporary pullback for banking stocks amidst all the recent glowing reports that the Great Recession is over. It is not over. It is going to get much worse, precisely because of a crisis that is about to erupt for the bankcard industry.
Turmoil at Visa or a hopeful turn in the road?
July 28, 2009
Visa Says Its President Steps Aside | online.wsj.com
The termination of Visa's president reflects the crisis in the bankcard industry. Since its IPO, investors, issuers and merchants been waiting for Visa to lead the industry to new heights. That has not happened. In fact, things have gotten worse. Cardholders, merchants, Congress and states are in rebellion against the industry, which has all but given up on innovation.
Is interchange protection a Custer's last stand for the bankcard industry?
July 16, 2009
JPMorgan's Profit Soars Despite Downturn - NYTimes.com | www.nytimes.com
The article reveals the growing, almost populist attack against bankcard interchange pricing. Heretofore, merchants have challenged the fee via lawyers, lobbyists and trade associations. Now it is trying to enlist cardholders, as if taking advantage of the enormous public distrust of banks and card issuers. The industry appears to be digging it its heels, perhpas reflecting a fear that issuers cannot absord any additional revenue losses without signifigantly and permanently damaging the product, not to mention the bankcard systems. The new CARD Act forces the industy to absorb tens of billions in new costs and restricted revenue streams. Doing the same on interchange could be more than banks can handle.
Why are merchants in the EU resuscitating their war against bankcard interchange fees?
June 16, 2009
Financial Times FT.com | www.ft.com
The battle by merchants in the EU against bankcard interchange fees has been going on for over a dozen years. A Eurocommerce complaint to the EC to reinvigorate the battle rasies questions. Has the EC slowed its concern about the issue and if so why? Is Eurocommerce fearful that the EC now sympathizes with card issuers, perhaps because of the banking crisis? Or is the Eurocommerce filing an attempt to close the war in its favor? Does it reveal new information and arguments? Does it exploit the populist anger in the EU against the banking industry to win Commission support? The Eurocommerce filing iwill be important to the issue in the US if it achieves a cache in Congress and is sophisticated enough to merit disclosure in court documents in New York. If it is more of the same, it could backfire.
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November 7, 2009
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October 25, 2009
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October 7, 2009
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September 29, 2009
Intellectual Property Right for Pharmaceutical Company
September 5, 2009