Retailers who claim that restrictions on debit card fees benefit credit unions and community banks miss the point: These price controls are bad for consumers. After Congress passed the Durbin amendment - which was authored by Sen. Dick Durbin as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act - merchants promised to pass the savings on to consumers in the form of lower prices. The price controls lawmakers were able to impose on those providing electronic payment options have resulted in an $8 billion annual handout to retailers that they have not passed on to consumers. Five years after the Federal Reserve issued a rule to implement the amendment, retailers have kept most of this revenue - an estimated $32 billion - for themselves.

The deal with Chinese banks will see Apple get around 0.07% per trans., according to a report on Chinese site Caixin, compared to the approximately 0.15 percent it's charging banks for credit card purchases in the US.

Chase Pay, JPMorgan Chase's mobile wallet, has just landed an unlikely early partner with a history of going it alone: Starbucks. The deal will incorporate Chase Pay into the Starbucks mobile app for payments at more than 7,500 Starbucks locations, starting in the fall. Starbucks' mobile app, which is largely developed and maintained in-house, is used for over 10% of its U.S. in-store sales.

Just days after Kickstarter Alum & Mobile Wallet Provider LoopPay, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., announced that Samsung Pay, the mobile payment service, had reached a global milestone - nearly five million registered users processed over $500 million in its first six months, showing a strong adoption rate in South Korea and the U.S. Samsung Pay launched in August 2015 in South Korea and in September 2015 in the U.S. market. Such statistics demonstrate that Samsung users increasingly use Samsung Pay in their everyday lives for its convenience, flexibility and security, according to the press release. 

After slogging through security, waiting to board the plane, finding a spot for your slightly oversized carry-on and squeezing into your seat, the last thing you want to do is dig out your credit card before watching the latest blockbusters on your cross-country flight. Now, if you've got an Amazon account, you may not have to. Southwest Airlines announced today that passengers are now able to make in-flight entertainment purchases through Pay with Amazon.