Finance & Metrics News
U.S. Spending Loses Momentum
Consumer demand fell in March after registering a strong gain in February.
Posted May 2, 2013
Banks Entering Prepaid Card Market
Banks are looking for an additional revenue stream with a prepaid debit card, a fast-growing market.
Posted Apr 16, 2013
Current State of M&A and the Financial Markets
Financial advisors from Raymond James asked the provocative question, “Could this be the year we’ve been waiting for?”
Posted Apr 12, 2013
Industry Experts Headline NACS SOI Summit
The NACS State of the Industry Summit will feature keynotes from industry experts in convenience retail, consumer shopping behavior, motor fuels and capital markets.
Posted Feb 22, 2013
Ahead of the Curve? Tech Investors Focus on Food
From coffee roasters to faux meat manufacturers, foodie firms are being showered with Silicon Valley money.
Posted Oct 18, 2012
Banks Fees Rising
A survey from Bankrate.com reveals ATM fees and checking fees have risen to record highs this year.
Posted Sep 28, 2012
Consumer Bank Fees Unrelated to Swipe Fees
The monthly service fees that banks charge consumers are unrelated to debit swipe fees, notes the Merchants Payments Coalition, analyzing data from Moneyrates.com and Bankrate.com.
Posted Sep 6, 2012
Retail Sales Drop for Third Consecutive Month
Car sales are the lone bright spot for June, with sales jumping 22% from the same month a year ago.
Posted Jul 17, 2012
Prepaid Cards to Jump 22.4% This Year
The potential volume for prepaid cards could top $247 billion in 2012, according to Packaged Facts.
Posted Jun 29, 2012
NACS Card Processing Program Launches Refer a Friend Program
Each referral of a credit-approved merchant sent between now and August 1 earns a $100 credit.
Posted May 9, 2012
Far From Over
The economy is "still crawling out of a very deep hole," writes The New York Times.
Posted Apr 10, 2012
States Search for Software That Cheats on Taxes
Officials in five states are cracking down on computer programs that help businesses keep two sets of books.
Posted Apr 5, 2012
Visa Boosts Prepaid Interchange Rates
The new interchange schedule takes effect October 1, and the biggest increase in the Visa-branded prepaid categories is for automated fuel dispenser transactions.
Posted Sep 12, 2011
Consumer Spending Increased in July
Surpassing economists' forecasts, U.S. consumer spending rose 0.8 percent last month, the largest gain since February.
Posted Aug 30, 2011
Banks Testing Monthly Fees for Debit Cards
Wells Fargo announced this week that it will begin testing a monthly fee for consumers to use their debit cards, a move some banks say is necessary because of new rules contained in the Durbin Amendment.
Posted Aug 19, 2011
Walmart Expands Check, Card Cashing Services
Now the retailer will cash payroll and eligible government benefit cards.
Posted Aug 10, 2011
Visa Announces New Participation Fee
Post-Durbin Amendment, Visa plans to offer a fixed network participation fee and reduce its variable processing fee for its cards.
Posted Aug 1, 2011
Heartland Readies "Durbin Dollars" for Merchants
Later this year the payment processor will pass along savings in debit card swipe fees.
Posted Aug 1, 2011
Mobile Credit Card Reader: There's an App for That
Apple begins selling Square card readers at its stores, formally endorsing the square chip that plugs into an iPhone headphone jack and allows users to process credit card payments.
Posted Apr 21, 2011
More Costly Food and Gas Threatens to Slow Economy
Some economists have begun lowering their growth forecasts for the quarter, because of skyrocketing fuel and food prices.
Posted Apr 19, 2011
American Express Announces New Digital Payment Platform
Serve offers person-to-person, online, mobile and traditional card capabilities in a single account.
Posted Apr 1, 2011
PNC Bank Keeps Free Checking
The financial services company will not add fees to its basic checking accounts.
Posted Mar 2, 2011
SBA Lending Declines for Big, Small Firms
Commercial real estate loans were down 4.1 percent, with loans exceeding $100,000 posting a gain of two percent.
Posted Feb 22, 2011
Chargebacks Hurt Small Businesses
The practice of reversing credit card transactions when a customer disputes the charge creates headaches for retailers.
Posted Feb 14, 2011
Retailers Court Unbanked Customers With Financial Offerings
With millions of Americans eschewing bank accounts, more merchants are providing banking services to customers.
Posted Feb 2, 2011
Congressional Committees Take Aim at SBA Programs
The SBA "could look considerably leaner in the coming months" if legislators have their way, who are searching to remove costly, ineffective programs.
Posted Feb 1, 2011
Apple Gets Into Mobile Wallet Game
The tech company has its own version of a microchip that would allow payments to be processed via its iPhone.
Posted Jan 31, 2011
Beer Money
Sam Adams founder offering loans to small businesses.
Posted Jan 27, 2011
Will Credit Cards Become Obsolete?
Some are predicting that paying with plastic might go the way of vinyl records soon.
Posted Jan 26, 2011
FDIC Addresses Lending to Small Businesses
The FDIC recommends that banks look less at collateral value and instead focus on business cash flow when assessing whether to approve a loan.
Posted Jan 18, 2011
Weak Economy Saps Dollar Stores' Strength
As the economic recovery appears dim, margins are expected to thin, leading to a loss of profits for the ubiquitous dollar store retailers.
Posted Sep 30, 2010
Financial Institutions Eager for Smartphones Payments
The banks and credit card companies are ready to transform plastic payments into mobile ones.
Posted Sep 27, 2010
Gatorade To Be Distributed Via Direct Delivery
The change represents the company's first large-scale move toward optimizing PepsiCo's delivery systems resulting from its bottling acquisitions earlier this year.
Posted Sep 2, 2010
Fed Committed to Prevent Second Recession
Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke says the central bank "will do all that it can do to ensure continuation of the economic recovery."
Posted Aug 31, 2010
Visa Stands to Lose on Swipe Fees
The SF Chronicle looks at SF-based Visa and what it stands to lose from the recent federal financial reform bill.
Posted Aug 25, 2010
Fed Report Delivers Positive Lending News
For the first time since late 2006, banks of all sizes have begun easing standards on small business loans. However, applying for a loan can still be a nightmare.
Posted Aug 25, 2010
How Secure Are ATMs?
Security experts posit that lower-volume machines might be less secure.
Posted Aug 18, 2010
Declining Cigarette Sales Could Trigger Tobacco Bond Defaults
With several states having bonds backed by tobacco-company payments, defaults could start happening as soon as 2030.
Posted Aug 9, 2010
P&G Predicts Uneven U.S. Recovery
CPG leader said it expects the economy to continue to struggle in the coming year, with a divide between the shopping behaviors of the employed and unemployed widening.
Posted Aug 5, 2010
Speedway SuperAmerica Announces Speedy Rewards Pay Card
The company has partnered with the National Payment Card Association on a Speedway-branded debit card tied into loyalty cards.
Posted Aug 3, 2010
J.P. Morgan Offers Small Businesses Rate Cuts If They Hire
Bank will lower the interest rate it charges on a small business line of credit by half a percentage point for every new hire the business makes, up to three hires.
Posted Jul 1, 2010
Woolworths Goes Up Against Visa
Australia's biggest retailer is battling Visa over swipe fees.
Posted Jun 9, 2010
Do ATMs Confuse Older Congressional Members?
Sen. Tom Harkin has been angling to limit ATM fees but his colleagues refused to sign on to his amendment last week.
Posted May 24, 2010
Canadian Government Issues Revised Credit, Debit Card Industry Code of Conduct
The Canadian Convenience Stores Association still has concerns about the way the credit card companies operate.
Posted May 3, 2010
California Looks at Raising Gift Card Cash Outs
The Senate has a bill that would double the amount of gift card cash outs from $10 to less than $20.
Posted Apr 21, 2010
Kansas City Federal Reserve Seeks Input for Payment Card Fraud Survey
The Merchants Payments Coalition is asking retailers to participate in the study.
Posted Mar 24, 2010
Computer Scams Take in More Than $120 Million
The FDIC reports that hackers got away with millions in a three-month period.
Posted Mar 10, 2010