Dear Members and Friends of the Alliance,

As the summer winds down, we find ourselves in the middle of quite a sea change. The recent ruling by a U.S. district court judge that said the Federal Reserve Board overstepped its authority in how it capped debit-card fees and defined debit routing choices has left many stakeholders unsure about their next move. As a result of this decision, nearly two years of planning by the U.S. financial institutions, the major payments brands, the payments processors and merchants for a purposeful conversion from fraud-prone magnetic stripe payments systems to more secure and globally accepted EMV chip cards may have to adjust to new regulations that will reverberate through the payments landscape.

This month’s letter describes the situation in more detail, as well as offering some perspective on navigating through challenges. As always, thank you for your support of the Smart Card Alliance.

Sincerely,
Randy Vanderhoof
Executive Director, Smart Card Alliance

View the August edition of Smart Card Talk.

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