New Jersey passed a law to prevent businesses from profiting from surcharges on credit card payments, defining a surcharge as any extra cost imposed on customers during credit card transactions. This law applies across all sales channels and mandates clear signage explaining the surcharge policy at points of entry and at the POS. The legislation, influenced by CardX creator Jonathan Razi, aims to establish clear standards for offsetting credit card processing costs while protecting consumers.
Colorado's similar law caps surcharges at 2 percent or the actual payment processing cost and includes disclosure requirements. Such regulations are likely to become more common as surcharging gains popularity across the United States, following trends seen in Australia, which introduced rules to ensure ethical surcharging practices.
The European Union officially adopted the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), aimed at enhancing operational efficiency in information and communications technology (ICT) within the financial sector. DORA encompasses extensive guidelines addressing ICT vulnerabilities in risk management, incident reporting, operational resilience testing and third-party risk monitoring. It mandates financial institutions to follow rules for protection, detection, containment, recovery and repair capabilities against ICT-related incidents.
Enforcement of all DORA guidelines is scheduled to begin on Jan. 17, 2025, with its binding nature applying across all EU Member States. DORA compliance involves complex and time-consuming processes, requiring validation of operational resilience achievements, policy and security control assessments, alignment of third-party contracts, and documentation of resilience capabilities.
Merchants expressed concern about impending interchange rate increases, which, according to an analysis by CMSPI, could cost them an extra $502 million. Visa and Mastercard traditionally adjust prices twice a year, and this time, digital merchants may bear a substantial burden, with new fees like Visa's digital enablement fee and Mastercard's charge for declined subscription renewals. Senators Durbin and Marshall have responded to rate hikes by renewing their push for legislation designed to encourage competition by allowing merchants to choose processing networks. However, the Electronic Payments Coalition argued that merchants' claims of being gouged by banks and card brands don't align with data, citing a minimal rise in interchange rates over the past several years and significant growth in some merchant sectors.
A shift from plastic to paper card products reflects a growing commitment to sustainable practices in the payment card industry, according to Talbott Roche, CEO and president of Blackhawk Network (BHN). BHN's new partnership with Visa is a step in this direction, with plans to transition prepaid products to compostable paper materials in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Roche emphasized BHN's mission to lead this transition, collaborating with influential brands like Visa to create a more sustainable payment card market. Douglas Sabo, chief sustainability officer at Visa, said the partnership with BHN highlights their commitment to sustainable commerce. Both companies have been actively pursuing environmental sustainability initiatives, with BHN pledging to convert most plastic products to paper by 2024, and Visa having achieved carbon neutrality in 2020.
The shift to PCI DSS 4.0 compliance is causing widespread concern among organizations, driven by worries about payment data security and the looming March 2025 deadline, according to a survey commissioned by Bluefin and co-authored by S&P Global Market Intelligence's Jordan McKee and David Immerman. The study emphasized that PCI DSS 4.0 necessitates a distinct approach to training and implementation; it also highlighted the challenge of balancing omnichannel commerce with security as payment channels diversify.
Key findings include concerns about the significance of PCI DSS 4.0 changes (93 percent), reliance on third-party vendors for compliance (86 percent), and openness to deadline extensions (64 percent). Despite the difficulties, 80 percent of respondents agreed that PCI DSS 4.0 is essential for industry and consumer improvement. 
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