The card payment network infrastructure is so vital to how commerce is conducted that it is considered a utility and as a utility, has become highly regulated in many countries. As government regulators take on the job of setting interchange, rates are moving closer to zero and transaction liability is being more equally shared between merchants and issuers. A new research report from Mercator Advisory Group titled Global Interchange Regulation: Impact on Debit Cards explores the ramifications of lower interchange on debit card activity.
“As regulators reduce interchange, it is interesting to note that network and processing fees are not simultaneously regulated. This means the impact of lower interchange is muted for merchants and networks while processors continue to generate fee income for their services. Financial institutions and cardholders are most negatively affected by these changes,” comments Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group and author of the report.
This research report has 15 pages and 3 exhibits.
Companies mentioned in this report include: Eftpos, Interac, Mastercard, and Visa.