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Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. agreed to pay scores of retailers more than $6 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit in an agreement that also permits merchants to charge higher prices to customers who pay for purchases with credit cards.

The settlement is expected to have wide-ranging implications for consumers, retailers and the card industry. It is also the latest victory for merchants, who have recently logged some significant wins in their efforts to reduce their cost of accepting plastic.

Users of electronic cash protocol Bitcoin might soon have another way to access and spend funds...Charlie Shrem...revealed that his company was 6-8 weeks away from launching a Bitcoin-funded international debit / credit card that will be issued by two unnamed major banks: one international and one domestic...the card will function like a regular debit or credit account and should be accepted wherever MasterCard is accepted – virtually everywhere. The first 1,000 cards will be given away for free but after those have been spoken for, expect to pay around $10 for a card.

Credit cards are no longer being accepted at California medical marijuana dispensaries -- thanks to pressure from the federal government. Someone -- likely the Treasury Department -- has informed credit card companies that they must no longer process credit card transactions involving medical marijuana, according to SF Weekly.

In the language of credit cards, “gold” has long been used to describe a certain level of benefits and consumer protections. Many banks issue Gold Visa or MasterCard credit cards, and American Express features a Gold card in its charge-card lineup.
Soon, “gold” will be used to describe a new type of credit card – but in more literal terms. The Gold Bullion credit card promises to be backed up by the value of your own gold bullion coins. Don’t have any? The company marketing the card can buy them for you at market rates.

A secondhand dealer shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of junk or used or secondhand property. Payment shall be made in the form of check, electronic transfers, or money order issued to the seller of the junk or used or secondhand property and made payable to the name and address of the seller. All payments made by check, electronic transfers, or money order shall be reported separately in the daily reports required by R.S. 37:1866.

Paying to use a debit card was unheard of before this year and is still a novel concept for many consumers. But several banks have recently introduced or started testing debit card fees. That's in addition to a spate of other unwelcome changes checking account customers have seen in the past year.

ayPal has increased the cost of chargebacks from $10 to $20. For refunds, PayPal will refund the 2.99% but will KEEP the 30 cent transaction fee. This is a mandatory non negotiable change in your policy, effective August 2010.

American Express rates for PayPal Website Payments Pro and Virtual Terminal Merchants will jump from a variable between 2.2% to 2.9% to an astronomical 3.5%. This is a mandatory non negotiable change in your policy, effective October 2010.

This is a close step to a cashless society. Greece has a new law going into effect Next Year which will make it illegal to conduct cash transactions over 1500 Euros. For such transactions, it's Credit/Debit cards and checks only.

This may very well be next for the USA, as we know the Powers that be seems to test their systems on other countries and implement them here.

Yes, it’s entirely possible [according to this Forbes article] to fund your existing debit card, or credit card, with your accumulated bitcoin.