Merchant

The proposal fails to account for the needs of small and medium-size businesses, which depend on banking data connectivity to keep their operations running.

The card giant is offering small merchants a debit card and account that provides a view of their cash flow across multiple products. Experts say this is a good step but that business owners may want more.

The small businesses that drive the U.S. economy and local economies throughout our nation are being "hung out to dry" by regulators' push for increased capital requirements, according to the head of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

This week the Small Business Administration followed through with a controversial policy change by granting access to its flagship 7(a) program to three additional nonbank lenders. These new participants vowed to ramp up their small-business lending efforts.

The change would lower the maximum fee on a $50 debit transaction from 24.5 cents to 17.7 cents. The central bank points to lower processing costs for card issuers in recent years.

The bipartisan proposal aims to save consumers money by forcing more competition in the lucrative credit card payments processing business. If enacted, it would result in "unbelievable" consumer backlash from its effect on rewards programs, Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said.

Three months after the instant payment network went live, users and former Fed staffers say the rollout is going as expected. But the key to wider use depends on banks and their customers figuring out what to do with it.

Brazil's PIX network has sparked a venture-capital boom in an otherwise down economy, including interest from U.S. investors.

"We'll be taking steps to offset expense pressures," CEO Curtis Farmer told analysts after the company reported an 11% year-over-year jump in costs and falling profits.

Steve Squeri says the outcry over the airline's changes to its loyalty program has not hurt spending on co-branded Amex cards.