Latest news with #Mastercards
Tom's Guide
03-06-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Google Wallet's removing linked PayPal accounts next week — what you need to know
U.S. Android users will soon see Google Wallet complete its removal of PayPal support by deleting all users' linked accounts. Google stopped users from linking new PayPal accounts to Google Wallet back in April, but users who had previously linked an account have been able to continue using it. Unfortunately, Google's support page (via Android Authority) indicates that it will be ending this support from June 13, 2025. As such, any linked accounts will be automatically deleted from the Google Wallet app. Google recommends that users have at least one card added to their account to make sure that they can continue to pay for goods and services. Also, users who have subscriptions set up with Google Wallet and their linked PayPal account will need to update the payment method as soon as possible. If they don't, then it is possible that you'll lose access to whatever app or service you're using. However, it should be noted that you can still use PayPal-branded bank cards on the Google Wallet app. There are two kinds of these: the first are debit Mastercards that are linked to your PayPal balance account. Alternatively, there's the PayPal credit card, which is issued by Bank of America. It's certainly disappointing that Google Wallet users are losing direct access to their PayPal accounts, a feature that has been part of Google's payment services since 2017. But on the bright side, PayPal recently announced that it will be launching a digital wallet app for iOS and Android in the coming weeks. For the time being, we will have to wait and see what the future of PayPal payment is on some of the best Android phones.. Hopefully, users will soon have other means to use their PayPal account on their devices, but whatever happens, we will keep you updated on all the changes as soon as we hear of them. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Daily Mirror
02-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Martin Lewis urgent £70 red alert to anyone with a Mastercard
The personal finance guru has issued the advice to anyone who has had a Mastercard - and even those who have never had one Martin Lewis issued an alert this morning, revealing that holders of Mastercards, and even those who have never had one, might be entitled to receive a £70 payout. The consumer finance expert disclosed that Mastercard has settled a court case which could see millions compensated. Lewis took to social media stating: "New MSE Guide. Check now if you're due up to £70 from Mastercard - even if you've NEVER had one. Millions are in line for compensation after the card firm settled a landmark legal case against it out of court.." has created a detailed guide outlining the implications of the legal ruling, available online. The announcement follows news that countless UK consumers could get up to £70 each as a result of a hefty £200 million settlement approved against Mastercard. The Competition Appeal Tribunal has recently given the green light on the distribution method for the payout, ending a class action litigation tracing back to 2016. Former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks spearheaded the lawsuit post the European Commission's 2007 decision that Mastercard had been charging "multilateral interchange fees" that breached competition law since 1992. Merricks contended that approximately 46 million UK shoppers were overcharged due to improperly imposed fees spanning 15 years from 1992 to 2008. Notably, the surcharges were applied to stores accepting Mastercard payments and not directly to the shoppers. Mr Merricks has accused retailers of hiking prices due to fee surcharges, following the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which ushered in American-style class action lawsuits for UK competition cases. A press release from Mr Merricks announced that millions in the class action could now stake their claim to a slice of the £200 million pot, with individual payouts estimated between £45 and £70. He disclosed that UK shoppers will soon be able to sign up for a payout via an easy online form, even if they never had a Mastercard. Mr Merricks said it was anticipated that registered consumers will receive payments by year's end. Reflecting on the case, Mr Merricks said: "I started this case because I believed that Mastercard's fees paid by retailers for processing card transactions had been unlawfully high and virtually all UK consumers had lost out for long periods by paying higher prices than they should have done as retailers passed on those costs. "As the evidence came to be known through the litigation process, this was the position only in a relatively small proportion of transactions and the settlement reflects that." Anyone who made a purchase in the UK using a Mastercard between 1992 and 2008 is eligible to make a claim. "The settlement that has today been finally approved represents a fair and just outcome for UK consumers. On any view, recovering £200 million by way of a settlement for UK consumers is a huge sum, and that will translate into a meaningful impact in the pockets of UK consumers." Consumers can make a claim at Who is eligible? Consumers are eligible if they lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for at least three months between June 1997 and June 2008, and who bought goods or services from UK businesses that accepted Mastercard credit cards. For those who live in Scotland, the starting point is May 1992. It is not necessary to have owned a Mastercard at any point. The judgment ringfences £100 million for consumers, who will have until the end of 2025 to claim. If the expected 5% of claimants – 2.5 million people – come forward, then they will receive £45 each. Should fewer claimants come forward, payments will be capped at £70 per claimant.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Iraqi militias laundered money for Iran through global payment networks
US and Iraqi authorities revealed a complex scheme involving prepaid cards that funneled illicit funds to Iranian-backed terror militias. Iraqi terrorist militia groups figured out how to extract illicit funds for Iran from Visa and Mastercard payment networks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. According to the report, at the start of 2023, cross-border Visa and Mastercard transactions in Iraq generated about $50 million. By April of the same year, that figure had soared to $1.5 billion. The militias, which include Kataib Hezbollah, the Badr Brigade, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, have helped the Islamic Republic avoid sanctions in what the US Treasury called a 'clandestine network of financial facilitators.' Iraq has both an official dollar exchange rate and a higher, unofficial rate. This allows individuals to buy prepaid cards in Iraq, withdraw the money elsewhere in the Middle East at Iraq's lower official rate, and then return home to convert it into dinars at the higher rate. The process has generated gains for participants of up to 21%. To generate these massive gains for themselves and Tehran, the militias acquired large amounts of Mastercards and Visa cards loaded with money, transported them back to the United Arab Emirates and other neighboring Gulf states, and withdrew the money, the report said. The Treasury told the Wall Street Journal that the militias likely used the financial graft to buy weapons and finance terror operations. The cash was also likely distributed among the cardholders for their personal use. The cardholders who participated are estimated to have made nearly $450 million in profit in 2023 alone. A source familiar with the matter said that the foreign card networks are estimated to have made about $120 million between them. Mastercard and Visa profited from the transactions by charging at least 1% to 1.4% on cross-border transactions. US Treasury officials reportedly notified the companies of the exchanges in the fall of 2024, but it took them months to take control of the transactions. Although the cash flow eventually decreased after the card companies reined it in, transactions still ranged from about $400 million to $1.1 billion a month until early 2025. US and Iraqi officials said that warnings to the card companies about the suspicious activity went unheeded for months. The Treasury recently asked the Central Bank of Iraq to formally block more than 200,000 cards used by militia members. The Iraqi card issuers that partnered with the card companies were not under any sanctions, so there are no public allegations that Visa or Mastercard violated US sanctions. The companies said they had acted quickly to limit transactions after the Treasury presented the fraud evidence. 'Ongoing government engagement is built into our programs so that we can quickly look into claims, identify the situation, and take action as appropriate,' Mastercard spokesman Seth Eisen said. 'That's exactly what we have done with the US government on this matter from a very early stage,' he added. 'Central to our operations is a commitment to ensuring that transactions on our network do not violate the law… When we identify or are alerted to any suspicious or illegal activity, we take action,' said Visa spokeswoman Fletcher Cook. In early 2023, the Central Bank of Iraq took steps to keep money circulating in the economy after international wire transfers were restricted. The bank allowed payments with cash and debit cards outside Iraq to be made at the official conversion rate, currently 1,320 Iraqi dinars to the dollar, which was cheaper than what was available in Iraq's currency markets. This policy sparked a surge in debit card usage for currency arbitrage. Militia couriers smuggled these cards into the UAE, Turkey, and Jordan. Witnesses described Iraqis lining up day and night at ATMs in Dubai with stacks of prepaid cash cards, withdrawing money nonstop. They then returned the funds to Iraq either through informal hawala networks or by electronic transfer. Once home, they converted the dollars into dinars at the higher unofficial market rate—close to 1,600 dinars to the dollar at its peak in 2023—pocketing the difference. Although that rate has since fallen to about 1,400 dinars, regulators in Iraq and the UAE responded by limiting daily withdrawals and cracking down on card smuggling. Authorities arrested dozens of Iraqis carrying thousands of cards worth millions at airports and border crossings. In one case, a traveler in Najaf was found with 300 cards hidden in cigarette packs; in another, Iranians and Iraqis were caught smuggling Mastercards into Iran. The militias adapted by persuading merchants in the region with Visa and Mastercard access to process fake purchases in exchange for a commission. Bankers described a scenario in which a luxury goods shop in the UAE would charge a Visa or Mastercard $5,000 even though no sale occurred. For a 5% fee, the shop would hand over the cash or the equivalent in UAE dirhams. The card company would debit the transaction at the official Iraqi rate, and the funds would be transferred back to Iraq for currency conversion. The militias often repeated this process endlessly, profiting at every step. Eventually, scammers acquired point-of-sale machines commonly used by restaurants and shops, according to US and Iraqi officials. At so-called POS farms, they processed fake transactions on dozens of devices, often using virtual private networks to hide their locations. Iraqi officials admitted they lacked sufficient controls to prevent what they described as rampant fraud. US authorities said they initially failed to spot the flaws, partly because card settlements are less scrutinized than traditional wire transfers. Iraq's heavy reliance on cash and weak oversight of card issuers made the problem worse. Authorities had some success reining in the scheme. After restrictions on wire transfers, funds flowing through Western Union and MoneyGram soared, surpassing $1 billion in March 2023 and reaching $1.7 billion in June. Western Union acknowledged the surge in Iraqi transactions in its earnings statements and noted ongoing discussions with US and Iraqi regulators. US and Iraqi authorities imposed new limits on monthly remittances, prompting Western Union and MoneyGram to close accounts at multiple Iraqi banks. As a result, cross-border flows dropped to about $110 million a month by October 2024. Western Union declined to comment, and MoneyGram did not respond to requests for comment. Despite enforcement actions, new loopholes emerged. When Baghdad's First Iraqi Bank launched Visa Direct in early 2024, the bank's Visa cardholders sent $1.2 billion overseas in just two months. One account holder alone transferred more than $5 million a day to 11 Indonesian accounts. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve raised concerns, and Visa suspended the service after 10 weeks. Visa and the bank did not respond to questions about Visa Direct. However, stopping individual services did little to curb the fraud, and the card business continued to grow. By 2024, Iraq had 17 licensed card issuers, up from five in 2017. Particularly concerning was the Qi Card, Iraq's most popular debit card, issued to millions of pensioners, government workers, and militias. Usage soared from about $10 million a month in early 2023 to more than $500 million a month by early 2025. Some militia commanders reportedly seized rank and file members' cards or created fake names to secure extra payouts, an Iraqi banker said. Even after the defeat of ISIS in 2019, the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shi'ite militias, grew more influential in both the government and financial sectors. By early 2025, more than 200,000 militia members were receiving salaries through Qi Cards, giving them significant leverage over the illicit card trade. The Treasury recently asked Iraq's central bank to block Qi Cards issued to militias. Qi Card's parent company, International Smart Card, said it 'no longer provides any services to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).' Bahaa Abdul Hadi, the 55-year-old founder, said the company had taken steps to reassure the Treasury and the Federal Reserve that no cardholders were under US sanctions and that no militia members had Qi Cards usable outside Iraq. 'The only service provided to PMF cardholders was the transfer of outbound salaries from their employer,' the company said. US and Iraqi officials said funds could easily be transferred to other cards that work internationally. Data on card usage confirmed the scale of the fraud. One in five transactions by foreign cardholders in the UAE in 2024 involved an Iraqi debit or cash card, even though only one in 250 travelers was from Iraq. Many payments went to businesses in free trade zones or high-end jewelers rather than the usual tourist spots. Mastercard's Global Compliance Team reviewed Yana Banking Services in August 2023 and found 'no customer risk rating is performed, and no risk ratings were reflected on eight cardholder and three merchant files.' Yana was temporarily banned from issuing new Mastercard-branded cards but was later reinstated after addressing the violations. 'The goal is to ensure they avoid further violations of Mastercard standards or regulatory requirements,' Eisen said. 'We reserve the right to revisit any allegation to ensure this compliance.' Yana did not respond to requests for comment. In March 2025, Mastercard blocked more than 100,000 Iraqi-issued cards and removed 4,000 merchants in the UAE. Half of the cards came from International Smart Card, the US, and Iraqi officials said. 'Information about Qi Card and International Smart Card that Mastercard received from government agencies was compiled with existing information and acted upon accordingly,' Eisen said. In April, Visa flagged 70,000 Iraqi cards for potential fraud and blocked about 5,000 UAE vendors. Some cards were later reinstated after review. The Central Bank of Iraq also capped cross-border transactions at $300 million a month and limited each cardholder to $5,000 monthly. The bank hired K2, a US financial crimes consulting firm, and required issuers to bank with an Iraqi institution that has a US correspondent bank. The US Treasury blacklisted three Iraqi card issuers, all Visa or Mastercard partners, for suspected ties to militias. One issuer, Al Saqi Electronic Payment Company, is affiliated with the Holy Shrine of Al Abbas. Al Saqi did not respond to The Wall Street Journal's requests for comment. Visa stopped processing Al Saqi cards, but Al Saqi's website still features Visa logos, promising 'all the advantages offered by Visa, including ease of use, global acceptance, and high security standards.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MoonPay Mastercard Launch Crypto Card, Allowing Users to Make Merchant Payments With Stablecoins
MoonPay has partnered with Mastercard to let users spend stablecoins at more than 150 million merchants worldwide, the company announced on Thursday. The integration means that users of 'every crypto wallet' will be able to access virtual Mastercards that draw directly from their stablecoin balances. The cards can be used at any merchant in Mastercard's network. The rollout comes amid a broader trend. Mastercard has last month unveiled end-to-end stablecoin capabilities as it moves deeper into the cryptocurrency economy, and partnered with OKX to launch a debit card with the exchange. Similarly, crypto exchange Kraken teamed up with Mastercard to let its users in the UK and Europe spend their cryptocurrency at any merchant in the payments giant's network. Earlier this year, Mastercard also began supporting tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) on its network through a partnership with Ondo Finance, which offers tokenized U.S. Treasury bills. UPDATE (May 15, 14:00 UTC): updates headline. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Should You Buy This Warren Buffett Stock With $1,000 Right Now?
Warren Buffett has developed an unbelievable track record as the chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway. Allocating capital for the conglomerate has led to tremendous returns for shareholders. Berkshire owns many different stocks that have propelled it over the years. There's one high-quality business, which commands just 0.4% of the overall Berkshire portfolio, that has put up a monster total return of 12,880% since its initial public offering (IPO) in May 2006. That type of performance is hard to ignore. With this financial stock trading 5% off its peak (as of March 26), should you invest $1,000 in it right now? Buffett likes to buy and hold companies that he thinks possess very favorable qualities. There's no denying that Mastercard (NYSE: MA) fits the description. One reason this is a high-quality business is because it benefits from a secular growth tailwind. In the past decade, cashless transactions have steadily gained ground on cash payments. This directly helps Mastercard, leading to more cards in circulation and greater payment volume. According to eMarketer, 52% of Americans will not use cash in an average week in 2025. That figure has climbed steadily over the years, but it still leaves plenty of growth potential. In developing parts of the world, the opportunity is even bigger. Inflation continues to be on investors' minds, particularly with the uncertainty around tariffs. Owning companies that are minimally affected seems like a smart move. Here's where Mastercard shines. Since Mastercard takes a tiny fee from every transaction that it processes, the business can be viewed as somewhat of an inflation beneficiary. If someone pays more for gas and groceries, for example, the higher dollar figure results in more revenue for Mastercard. Buffett loves economic moats. Mastercard's network effect is the durable competitive advantage that helps support its industry position. This is arguably one of the widest moats around. Mastercard has 3.2 billion active cards in circulation that are accepted at 150 million merchants around the globe. This creates a two-sided platform that becomes more powerful and more valuable to every stakeholder the bigger it gets. The more people that hold the cards, the more merchants want to join the network; and with more merchants in the network, the more consumers want to have Mastercards. The rise of fintech payment services and ongoing development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are risk factors, but Mastercard is so entrenched in the economy that it's difficult to see disruption happening anytime soon. In the past decade, Mastercard's revenue has increased at a healthy compound annual rate of 11.6%. This goes back to the rise of cashless transactions mentioned earlier. But what's more impressive is Mastercard's profitability. For every dollar in revenue it reported in 2024, 46% flowed to the bottom line as net income. This is an unbelievable margin that points to just how lucrative a business model this is, reducing financial risk for shareholders. Operating a vast payments platform has proven to be very profitable. Since the technological infrastructure to handle transactions and move data around is already mostly built, handling trillions of dollars in transactions volume results in enormous profit. Mastercard has been a wildly successful investment since its IPO 19 years ago. Even during the past 10 years, the stock has seriously outperformed the S&P 500 index. However, the trailing five-year period hasn't been so upbeat. Mastercard's 119% total return is slightly below that of the broader benchmark of 500 companies. That track record is certainly disappointing. It's even more troubling when you consider Mastercard's steep valuation. The shares trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 40 compared to about 28 for the S&P 500. To be fair, Mastercard deserves to sell for a premium, but the current setup doesn't stack the odds in the favor of investors looking to achieve market-beating returns during the next five years. Mastercard is an outstanding business. However, it's a Buffett stock best avoided right now. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $284,402!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $41,312!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $503,617!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of March 24, 2025 Neil Patel and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Should You Buy This Warren Buffett Stock With $1,000 Right Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
