Specialist
Former senior executive at Intrepid Ventures LLC
Agenda
- Payment providers’ regulatory environments across different geographies
- Potential for Russia-Ukraine situation to bring about increased regulator focus on cryptocurrencies and similar
- The European Payments Initiative and its potential to pose a material threat to card networks
- Durbin Amendment enforcement and interchange fee changes in the US, highlighting potential impacts on banks, fintechs and payments providers
- Federal Reserve’s proposed real-time payments system – FedNow – and how it compares to private options in development
Questions
1.
Could you describe the regulatory environment for payment companies across regions or geographies? What pressing issues should investors monitor?
2.
How might some card networks pulling out of Russia in light of the Russia-Ukraine situation change regulator priorities? Could there be increased regulator focus on cryptocurrencies or other assets that can be used to avoid sanctions?
3.
In a previous Interview [see Global Payments – 2021 Outlook – 5 January 2021], you were less optimistic than some about the European Payments Initiative getting off the ground, and there’s been a lot of press recently around Commerzbank, DZ Bank and others pulling out. What’s your outlook? Why has it struggled, what’s likely to happen and how might it impact the card networks?
4.
What’s the likelihood of the European Payment Initiative getting off the ground vs taking a different path? What’s the timeline? How would it impact the card networks if it did get off the ground?
5.
You mentioned the potential for more Durbin Amendment enforcement in the US. What are your thoughts on the potential for material changes to the current rules and how might these impact card networks or other players?
6.
What’s the probability of the US regulating credit interchange in the next five years as well as debit? Would there be enough votes to pursue in that case?
7.
What’s the probability that the US or EU regulators will go after Visa and Mastercard network fees rather than interchange fees over the next five years?
8.
What would be the broader implications on the payment provider ecosystem of debit and credit interchange caps in the US? How would these impact merchant acquirers such as Global Payments, FIS, Fiserv and Evo, or other players?
9.
Could you give an update on real-time payments, FedNow and your expectations going forward?
10.
Do P2P networks that have leveraged Visa Direct or Mastercard Send have more negotiating power as FedNow and real-time payments become viable alternatives?