French officials are calling for tighter regulation of prepaid products in the European Union, claiming that prepaid cards were in preparation for the terrorist attacks in Paris earlier this month. The proposal to tighten prepaid regulation is part of a broader initiative to combat terrorist financing.
A new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia finds, not surprisingly, that consumers affected by a data breach are much more likely to opt for fraud protection, while those consumers who are unaffected or only hear news about breaches are less likely to use fraud prevention services.
De-risking, motivated by short-term risk-reward calculations, should not be allowed to kill off one of the cornerstones of the global financial system. Rather than abandon correspondent banking relationships, banks should be thinking about investing in and automating their risk controls, according to a new whitepaper by PwC.
The CFPB announced in a Nov. 20 blog post that it has updated its regulatory agenda, including the schedule for its final rule on prepaid accounts, which now is expected to be released in March 2016. Several lawmakers have expressed concern over the CFPB’s broad proposed rulemaking on prepaid, noting that consumers, including those that rely on overdraft and government benefits, may be harmed if the rules go too far.
It may be Black Friday next week, but it’s also the deadline to comment on potentially harmful payroll card regulations pending in the state of New York.
Craig James explains how passporting with an e-money license allows U.S. prepaid companies to conduct business in EU countries.
Retailers argue the semantics between calling a price difference a “surcharge” or a “discount.”
The FDIC last week issued a revised financial institution letter soliciting public opinion on a proposed update to its series of FAQs related to identifying, accepting and reporting brokered deposits. The revised guidance, which has a 45-day comment period that ends Dec. 28, has far-reaching implications for the prepaid industry.
Federal prosecutors have charged a trio of accused cybercriminals in a wide-ranging hacking and fraud scheme Attorney General Loretta Lynch called “one of the largest thefts of financial-related data in history.”
A 30-second advertisement that aired during last night’s Republican presidential debate took aim at the CFPB and likely raised the hackles of the bureau’s proponents.
Eighteen U.S. senators led by Cory Booker (D-N.J.), sent a letter last week to the CFPB urging protections for prisoners released from jail who receive prepaid cards when they exit incarceration.
A small Texas bank is digging in its heels in a legal challenge to the CFPB and the appointment of agency director Richard Cordray.
Recent years have seen unprecedented changes to the technical infrastructure of financial institutions. Many of these changes have been driven by regulatory mandates drawn up in response to the financial crisis of 2007/8. As the Global Systematically Important Banks battle to comply with the January 2016 deadline of the Basel III Directive BCBS239, it is […]
Companies seeking to appeal a supervisory action undertaken by the CFPB have to play by some new rules, now that the agency has revised its appeals process.
Legislators and regulators are grappling with how to apply existing money transmitter laws to an emerging industry. Read about the challenges and latest developments across the U.S.
States are getting into the EMV with PIN push, which they say will provide better fraud protection.
A class action related to the Kmart breach in 2014 was struck down.
Global regulatory body the Financial Stability Board has released two guidance papers which aim to solve the “too big to fail” scenario and prevent a re-run of the financial crisis by promoting the resolvability of systemically important financial institutions.
The New York State Department of Labor this week reissued its proposed rule on payroll cards (see page 7 of PDF), which is similar to the one issued in May. Although some of the DOL’s changes are favorable to the industry, lingering provisions, particularly those around banned fees, will prove problematic to payroll card business models.
After much legal wrangling that saw Morgan Drexen, the now bankrupt debt settlement services provider, and the CFPB filing lawsuits against each other, a judge last week handed down a suspended judgment against Walter Ledda, the company’s CEO.
The Senate has approved a cybersecurity bill that would make it easier for the private sector and governmental agencies to share information about potential cyberthreats. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act passed yesterday by a vote of 74-21, after several failed attempts to advance the bill. The House passed a companion bill earlier this year, which means a combined bill soon will be headed for President Obama’s desk.
Eight years on from the global financial crisis, and banks continue to face a growing number of challenges. Many have ceased or significantly reduced proprietary trading, with the resulting reduction in both risk and reward. This period has also seen lower risk appetite among many investors and continuing global competition which has put pressure on profit margins,
The U.S. Department of Education released its final regulation regarding Title IV funds disbursement before the Nov. 1 deadline, which means the regulations will go into effect July 1, 2016, and apply to the 2016-2017 school year.
In a decision that effectively classifies bitcoin as a type of currency rather than a good, the European Union’s highest court has ruled that the exchange of traditional currency for bitcoin is not subject to value added sales tax.
Despite reassurances from UniRush Chairman and CEO Rick Savard earlier this week that the company is working around the clock to address any remaining cardholder issues arising from its recent technology migration, CFPB Director Richard Cordray today offered his two cents on the matter, saying the bureau will use “all appropriate tools at our disposal to help ensure that consumers obtain the relief that they deserve.”
The fact that London’s financial services sector is also a hot spot for technology innovation is not news. In 2014, investment in financial technology firms grew by 136%. Earlier this year, George Osborne identified London’s financial technology sector as a particularly bright spot in the recovering economy – not surprising when you consider the transformational effect that information technology continues to have on the industry
Hasty unilateral moves by individual countries could undermine the ability of financial institutions and markets to benefit from new regulations and weaken efforts to improve financial stability, delegates at the BBA conference in London heard yesterday.
More transparency is urgently needed to restore trust in the FX industry, according to a new report by foreign exchange MTF LMAX Exchange – but to make that happen, the industry will have to collaborate.
Chrisol Correia, Head of Global Anti-Money Laundering Solutions, LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Court considers whether it’s permissible for a discount for using cash or a surcharge for using credit cards.
A high-end fitness company selling tickets to reserve a spot in a specific class at a designated date and time comes under scrutiny for violating the CARD Act.
Borders gift cardholders do not get to claim $210 million in unredeemed gift card funds.
Target Corp., Amazon.com and a host of other retailers continue to challenge MasterCard, Visa and several large banks over the terms of a $7.25 billion settlement reached in 2013. The settlement was supposed to end the retailers’ claims that the banks and MasterCard and Visa artificially inflated interchange fees. Several of the largest retailers, however, […]
America has led Europe in payments innovation. Europe has led in payments regulation. The recent rubberstamping of PSD2 in Brussels suggests that’s likely to continue.
Compliance obligations are increasing for financial institutions. A utility approach to the issue is gaining favour …
It seems that at each Sibos, certainly since the financial crisis of 2008, a regulatory deadline is looming large. This year’s model is the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s (BCBS’) 11 principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting (BCBS 239), with which globally systemically important banks (GSIBs) must comply by 1 January 2016. However, a report on the progress of adoption reveals a lack of preparedness.
The yeas have it. The European Parliament today has passed the second major payments regulation in 2015, with 578 votes in favor of the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
Two McDonald’s franchise owners have appealed a judge’s refusal to dismiss a class-action lawsuit alleging they illegally mandated employees be paid via prepaid cards.
The Payments Market Practice Group has endorsed the use of Swift messages for intraday liquidity reporting. The Swift message set for intraday liquidity reporting underpins a rulebook created by the Liquidity Implementation Task Force, an industry group of twenty five large clearing banks, custodian banks and global brokers, to support compliance with Basel Committee on Banking Supervision requirements.
Prior to today’s field hearing in Denver, the CFPB has announced it’s considering proposing rules that would restrict consumer financial companies from using certain types of arbitration clauses that block consumers from forming class action lawsuits to obtain compensation.
