With coronavirus presenting significant challenges for retailers and the technical challenges of imposing interchange fee changes in the networks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are holding off on the updates.
The U.S. government will shortly funnel trillions of dollars into the economy to soften the coronavirus’ impact on a variety of industries and small businesses. Payment companies that are also lenders will soon find out if it’s enough to save the market.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already given rise to false marketing of test kits and criminals impersonating the FDIC. Consumer advocates say the bureau could issue alerts as well as empower banks to help safeguard their customers’ funds.
As businesses change strategy and staff deployments quickly, their payment needs and flows will change rapidly, says BHMI's Jack Baldwin.
JPMorgan would consider buying other businesses; collectors would be allowed to pursue debt past the statute of limitations, if they warn borrowers.