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Visa and MasterCard Rules Credit card transaction acquiring organizations are generally required to comply with the rules and regulations of Visa and MasterCard. These rules are updated from time to time. A version of the rules, not necessarily those that apply to you, are found here: Visa Rules MasterCard Rules If you are an ISO or agent promoting credit card services, confirm with your acquiring or sponsoring bank exactly which rules apply to you. The above rules used to be secret, which was a source of considerable frustration in the credit card industry, because participants were bound by rules that they were not entitled to see. Fortunately, that era is behind us. PCI Standards Most participants in the merchant acquiring / merchant account business are also obliged to comply with PCI standards, which are a set of guidelines for security of credit cardholder information. These standards are of immediate concern to merchants who are most at risk of being out of compliance. More information on PCI compliance as well as the Visa and MasterCard equivalent standards is available here: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (Visa CISP) MasterCard Site Data Protection Program (MasterCard SDP Program) Payment Industry Associations A good way to learn about the electronic payments industry is through the following industry associations:
Electronic
Transactions Association
IN RE: AMERICAN EXPRESS MERCHANTS’ LITIGATION, United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit, January 30, 2009, Docket No. 06-1871-cv: Held that the validity of a waiver of a right to a class action claim in an Amex Card Services Agreement is properly decided by the Court and not by arbitration despite an arbitration clause and (b) the waiver of the right to a class action claim in the Amex Card Service Agreement is unenforceable because it would de facto grant Amex immunity from antitrust liability by removing the Plaintiff`s only reasonably foreseeable means of recovery. The underlying case, not decided upon in this decision, relates to the fact that Amex, a credit card acquirer that is more expensive to merchants partly because of its higher-end clientele, is getting into lower-end card issuing. The Honor All Cards requirement of the Amex Card Services Agreement requires merchants to accept all Amex cards and thereby forces merchants to decide between (a) accepting all Amex cards, including lower-end cards that are markedly more expensive than Visa and MasterCard equivalents, and (b) rejecting all Amex cards and depriving themselves of the higher-end customers. LML Patent Corp. v. JP Morgan Chase & Co. et. al. Original Statement of Claim, US District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division Case No. 08-338, November 19, 2008: LML filed suite against JP Morgan and 18 other defendants, including PayPal that provide equipment, systems and services that convert paper checks into electronic transactions. The suite claims that the defendants violated US Patent No. RE40220 which is a method of carrying out a conversion of a check into an ACH. Lonner v Simon Prop. Group, Inc., 2008 NY Slip Op 07877, October 14, 2008, Appellate Division, Second Department: $2.50 monthly gift card inactivity fee illegal for lack of adequate disclosure. Great refresher on the law of fine print.AdvanceMe Inc. v. Rapidpay, LLC, et al., Memorandum and Opinion Order, USDC Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, Justice Davis, August 14, 2007 U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Antitrust Task Force Hearing on Credit Card Interchange Fees, July 19, 2007 Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) Briefing on automated teller machine fees and electronic payments, April 17, 19 2007 and March 22, 2007 Publications and Conferences
Contract Negotiation: Things you need to know when negotiating a deal, MWAA, July 24, 2008
The Best Processor Clauses and
Negotiation Tactics Of All Time,
The Green Sheet, August
2007
The Worst
Processor Clauses and Negotiation Tactics of All Time,
The Green Sheet, July
2007
Is a Locked
Document an Insult?, The
Green Sheet, July 2007
What if my
ISO tanks? The Green Sheet,
June 2007 The ABCs of a Portfolio Sale, The Green Sheet, May 2007
When a
Merchant Sues, is the ISO on the defense?,
The Green Sheet, April
2007
If I should
die, I leave my ISO business to my aunt Betty,
The Green Sheet, March
2007
Can I sign a
merchant who is already with my processor?,
The Green Sheet, February
2007
Referral
Fees, Commissions and Kickbacks: Who is earning a piece of the
business you build?, The
Green Sheet, January 2007
Is an ISO
liable for data security breaches?,
The Green Sheet, December
2006
After a
buyout, who services my merchants?,
The Green Sheet, November
2006
How to
Negotiate Non-Competition with a Gorilla,
The Green Sheet, October
2006
Payment
Process Patents: The end of freedom of commerce?,
The Green Sheet,
September 2006
Association
Fine vs. Termination of Residuals: Is there a choice?,
The Green Sheet, August
2006
10 Worst
Decisions Ever Made by ISOs, The Green Sheet, July 2006
Refunds
After Termination of a Merchant: Chargeback Smorgasbord,
The Green Sheet, June
2006
Rule
Compliance: Getting your sponsor involved,
The Green Sheet, May 2006
Confidentiality Clauses in ISO Agreements,
The Green Sheet, April
2006
The
Termination Gamble, The Green
Sheet, March 2006
ISO Reserve
Account: a.k.a. Processor 401K,
The Green Sheet, February
2006
What is an
aggregator anyway?, The Green
Sheet, January 2006
The
ISO-Agent Relationship: What�s the Deal?,
The Green Sheet, October
2005
The
Non-Public Personal Information Hot Potato,
The Green Sheet,
September 2005
Exit
Strategy: How to improve your chances of cashing in on your hard
work, The Green Sheet,
August 2005
50 Ways to
Loose Your Merchant, The
Green Sheet, July 2005
Clean-Up
Your Agent Agreements or Else!,
The Green Sheet, June
2005
Association
Fines: Back in the U.S.S.R.,
The Green Sheet, May 2005
Avoiding a
Buyout Blowup, The Green
Sheet, April 2005
Reporting
Legally, The Green Sheet,
March 2005 2005 From a Legal Perspective, The Green Sheet, January 2005
Wrongful ISO
Residual Termination: facing the ISO�s worst fear,
The Green Sheet, January
2005
When does a
bank really have the right to terminate residuals?,
The Green Sheet, December
2004
Blacklist
Trick or Treat: MATCH List Horror Stories,
The Green Sheet, November
2004
How to
Document and ISO Financing,
The Green Sheet, October 2004
Payment
Anti-Trust Legal Issues Case Study: Joint control of associations
and exclusionary rules, as decided in
Confidentiality Clause as a Cloaked Non-Compete Clause,
The Green Sheet, August
2004
ISO
Liability for Agent Actions,
The Green Sheet, July
2004
5 Things an
ISO With Liability Should Know,
The Green Sheet, June
2004 Legal Aspects of the Electronic Payments Business in the U.S.A. for Card Tech Korea, Presentation to Korean ETA in Seoul, Korea, July 8, 2004.
Scrip
Machines: a Legal Minefield,
The Green Sheet, May 2004
Personality
and the Law, The Green Sheet,
April 2004
The Catch-22
of Association Rules in ISO Agreements,
The Green Sheet, March
2004
Privity of
Contract: Know Who the Parties are to Your Agreements,
The Green Sheet, February
2004
The
Non-Competition Clause in an ISO Agreement, The Green Sheet,
December 2003
LIABILITY.,
The Green Sheet, October 2003
Topic: How
about them Reserves?, The
Green Sheet, October 2003
Topic:
Should I finance my ISO?, The
Green Sheet, September 2003
Topic:
Should I finance my ISO?, The
Green Sheet, August 2003
Topic:
Should I Bother to Read an NDA?,
The Green Sheet, July
2003
Topic: Who
Owns an ISO Portfolio?, The
Green Sheet, June 2003 Topic: The IC Sales Agreement, The Green Sheet, May 2003
Precedent Bank The firm maintains a current collection of precedents and forms for various payments and biometrics legal applications. For access to forms and precedents, please contact us through info@adamatlas.com. Privacy Law Privacy laws are inevitably applicable to all electronic payments and biometrics businesses. For reference purposes, below are links to certain key privacy legislation in the USA, Canada and Europe: USA Federal
The Privacy Act of
1974, protects information in possession of the federal
government California California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003, applies to anyone collecting California information Any business with a national presence in the USA should comply with this California statute which sets the high water mark for US state regulation of privacy. Canada Federal
Personal
Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA),
applies to all personal information Europe Photos
Adam Atlas speaking at the Midwest Acquirers Association meeting in
Cleveland, Ohio, July 26, 2007
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