5 Credit Card Stocks Set To Spring Higher

KEY POINTS

This week's payments roundup comes from Payments Insider, the daily briefing delivered first thing every morning exclusively to BI Intelligence members.

BRUSSELS — Banks will have to limit the fees they charge on card payments under proposals from the European Commission on Wednesday that would also scrap surcharges on shoppers paying with plastic. The draft law would squeeze an important source of income for banks but should bring lower prices for consumers. It will also end the practice of bumping up the cost of airline tickets, for example, when consumers use their credit card to pay.

The Competition Tribunal may have dismissed a complaint against Visa and MasterCard over card fees charged to merchants, but other conclusions in its ruling Tuesday could lay out a “road map” for retailers in the next stage of battle with the financial giants: class-action lawsuits.

The established U.S.-based payment processing companies revealed clues about their future strategies in fourth quarter earnings calls last week.

By the end of 2014, the majority of small and medium-sized businesses will use mobile credit card readers, according to online survey data from BIA/Kelsey.  Mobile credit card readers are small devices that attach to a tablet or smartphone, usually through the audio jack, and allow merchants to swipe credit cards and process payments without needing expensive and clunky register systems.  The survey report is based on the responses of 600 small and medium-sized businesses during the third quarter of 2013.

Optimism among small businesses has reached its highest level for three years with confidence increasing throughout all parts of the UK and most sectors despite continuing borrowing problems.