Perspectives: Patricia Hewitt
Taking the Temperature at NACHA 2013
by: Patricia Hewitt, Mercator Advisory Group
4/25/2013
Over the years, NACHA’s annual conference has become an important event for the larger payments industry and presents a wide cross section of the topics and issues the market is facing. This year’s conference kicked off with a keynote from...
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Decoupled Debit Completes Grocer’s Mobile Strategy
by: Patricia Hewitt
3/6/2013
Finishing what appears to be a multi year plan to move Safeway grocery and fuel stations into a full featured digital environment, the company recently announced the launch of its mobile payment product, Fast Forward. Operating as a decoupled debit...
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Surcharging Ripple Effect
by: Patricia Hewitt
1/25/2013
On Sunday, merchants in the United States will be able to impose a surcharge fee on credit card transactions for the first time in history. This change was enabled through the merchant interchange fee lawsuit preliminary settlement approved by a...
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Thoughts on the Debit Market in 2013
by: Patricia Hewitt
12/19/2012
In 2012, the debit industry in the U.S. began to recover from the turmoil resulting from the Durbin Amendment, but that doesn’t mean smooth sailing by any means. Two thousand thirteen may be the year of living dangerously as issuers...
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Occupy Wall Street, Debt Forgiveness, and the Bigger Idea
by: Patricia Hewitt
11/15/2012
One might presume that as a movement, Occupy Wall Street has gone underground, leaving behind a legacy for the financial services market in the term, "the 99%", but perhaps little else. However, recently an offshoot of the group has turned...
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Wal-Mart Flies Away with Amex Bluebird
by: Patricia Hewitt
10/9/2012
Not holding a banking license is no longer an impediment to offering financial services products to the consumer market and with the announcement of the new American Express Bluebird product at Wal Mart, traditional debit card issuers should take note....
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New Banks and Old Models
by: Patricia Hewitt
8/8/2012
Listen to Patricia Hewitt read her Perspective Watching new banking strategies unfold, such as the recent roll out of Simple, I'm struck by the idea that while these developers may be re envisioning the banking experience for a digital audience,...
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Fully, Finally, and Forever - For Now
by: Patricia Hewitt
7/16/2012
The long wait is over as a settlement has been reached in the "Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation". Unlike the Durbin Amendment, which resulted in months of speculation regarding the final rules, the court has issued...
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The Real Problem for Exempt Debit Issuers
by: Patricia Hewitt
5/2/2012
The Federal Reserve released their analysis of the impact of debit card interchange fee regulations for 2011 and the news seems encouraging for exempt financial institutions since their rates have been left relatively unchanged. Since the debit networks aligned to...
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