In this episode of Today in Payments, Patti Murphy and James Shepherd break down four major developments shaping the payments landscape:

First, they discuss the European Commission’s renewed investigation into Visa and Mastercard’s interchange fees. With EU credit card fees capped at 0.3% and U.S. rates averaging 1.8%, regulators are questioning transparency, competition, and the dominance of foreign payment networks.

Next, they dive into a new survey showing that U.S. banks are falling behind on offering real-time payment options through RTP and FedNow. Despite growing demand from corporate and retail customers, many banks still rely on legacy systems and see Zelle as “good enough.”

Then they explore a new NSF authorization solution from FIS and Kip. This model allows merchants to approve debit card transactions even when a customer’s balance is too low—without triggering overdraft fees—by paying a small premium for the approval.

Finally, they unpack Block’s latest move to bring Bitcoin to the point of sale. Starting later this year, Square merchants will begin accepting Bitcoin payments directly, potentially moving crypto closer to everyday retail use.

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