The Payments Pulse

Global Payments is expanding its Genius point-of-sale solution through Worldpay's sales channels and financial institution customers, per Payments Dive. Merchants using Worldpay or evaluating POS upgrades may see Genius as a new option through existing relationships.

Colorado passed a bill requiring interchange fees to be calculated without including sales tax in the transaction amount. The bill awaits Gov. Polis's signature. If enacted, Colorado merchants would pay lower interchange costs on taxable sales. Source: Digital Transactions.

PayPal CEO Enrique Lores, two months into the role, is focused on following through on prior technology investments, per Digital Transactions. No specific fee changes or product updates were announced. The company acknowledged its market position requires significant action. Merchants using PayPal should monitor for platform or pricing changes as leadership priorities take shape.

Finextra reports Bankart CEO Samo Kumar, speaking at Diebold Nixdorf's Intersect Cannes event, said faster real-time and mobile payments have increased fraud exposure for both merchants and consumers. Kumar noted the industry is moving toward cross-institution collaboration rather than competition on fraud protection. Merchants carry fraud risk on their side of POS transactions, not only consumers.

Global Payments reacquired Worldpay and is now focused on returns from its Genius POS platform, which absorbed roughly $1 billion in investment. Merchants using Global Payments or Worldpay processing may see product and support resources shift toward Genius. Source: Digital Transactions.

Fiserv Q1 earnings showed Clover's gross payment volume grew 12% year-over-year, per Digital Transactions. Merchants evaluating POS systems may find this growth signal relevant when assessing Clover's market position and investment trajectory.

The 2024 Visa and Mastercard antitrust settlement caps swipe fees and gives merchants the right to surcharge. The 2026 ripple is that interchange-plus contracts now exclude the cap from the markup line, which means real comparisons need to read the contract, not the rate sheet.

The 2.6 percent on the home page is not what you pay. Effective rate (total fees divided by total volume) is the only number that matters when you compare processors. Most merchants on flat-rate plans are 0.30 to 0.50 percent above their tier benchmark.