No surprise on interchange pressure

The recent moves by legislators on both sides of the Atlantic to rein in interchange fees is no surprise though the companies involved may continue to ignore the writing on the wall, those fees and margins will eventually be cut, one way or the other. Look out for some movement in the ranks of legislators on the other side of the Pacific next. 

As competitive payments systems go live in the next 12 months merchants will enthusiastically promote  those with lower fees and better security. Particularly attractive will be cross border micro-payments and faster access to funds for both merchants and consumers. 

There will be some radical developments on the P2P and C2B payments markets which may result in lower fees than even governments seek to impose. Not before time, as in the past 20 years technology has advanced and costs reduced whilst fees for consumers and merchants have grown to an unsustainable point. How low they can go is anyboy's guess especially if we see some honeymoon pricing, something merchants will likely embrace in a tightening retail market. 

 Consider it this way - it gives the companies the opportunity to tighten their belts gradually rather than being stunned in an instant. Either way the fees are going down, goodbye 1950, it's the 21st century arriving.