Intrepid Ventures

Four contenders are routinely hyped as poised to disrupt the reigning global payment system: (1) stablecoins backed by fiat currencies-principally dollars, but also gold and other assets, (2) unbacked cryptocurrencies, (3) Central Bank Digital Currencies

Judge Virginia Kendall's February 10th, 2026 decision upheld Illinois's right to impose price controls on interchange fees. However, she permanently enjoined the state from enforcing its data-usage restrictions on national banks and federal savings associ

A mix of market forces, law, regulation, and public and private litigation has determined the price of payments acceptance on both sides of the Atlantic. Their relative importance, however, differs markedly. While private antitrust suits have had a signif

America's credit card industry is the most competitive in the world and delivers enormous value for consumers and merchants ranging from mom and pops to Goliaths like Walmart and Amazon. There are four national general purpose credit networks Visa, Master

The storied European payments consolidator Worldline's stock is down a mind-bogglingly 96% from its April 2021 high. The market is worried about its lack of growth and sources of revenue. It cries out for an intervention. Worldline's new CEO Pierre-Antoin

Cash use by country varies enormously. While its use has been falling on both sides of the Atlantic, Europeans use considerably more cash than Americans. Higher taxes and greater tax avoidance, culture, and lower consumer incentives to use electronic paym

Capital One is the trailblazer that larger banks like BofA, Chase, and Wells Fargo should follow to move their debit businesses to a freer market enabling enormous value creation for their customers and shareholders. With Capital One's $35 billion all-sto

The Cato Institute's Nicholas Anthony warned that the Biden administration is waging "a war on (payment industry) prices." The payments industry provides services funded by a range of fees paid by consumers and businesses. Demagogic regulators and politic

Capital One's $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover will be a thunderclap for the debit-card, retail-banking, and payment-network markets. The Discover network has long been the number five retail-payment network in the US, after Visa, Mastercard, America