- EFTA § 909(a)
- Regulation E § 205.11
- UCC § 1-201(20), 3-204, 3-301, 3-314, 3-415, 4-214(a),
(c) & (d), 9-105
- Regulation
E Commentary |
Rapid Growth in ACH Transactions:
About 90 million POS conversions occurred in 2001, up from
25 million the previous year; POS conversions are increasing
rapidly, with 60 million in the first half of 2002. The
new WEB entries for Internet payments generated about 75
million transactions during 2001, but they also are growing
rapidly, to 69 million during the first half of 2002. As
of the middle of 2002, the average POS conversion amount
was $71.
Relative Cost of Retail Payment Options:
POS conversions now typically cost about 25-50 cents per
transaction. If the merchant purchases a guarantee (usually
from Intell-A-Check, TeleCheck, or Visa), the cost rises
to about 1.5% (about the same as a credit-card transaction,
considerably more than a PIN-based debit transaction). The
advantage, though, is that the merchant doesn't bear the
risk of nonpayment by the customer. The Visa option verifies
the account balance in real time. And Intell-A-Check and
TeleCheck accept the risk of nonpayment, referring bounced
eChecks to a collection agency. Disputed credit-card transactions,
by contrast, typically are charged back to the merchant.
Relative Speed of Retail Payment Options:
Recent surveys suggest that checks take about one minute
per transaction, and that POS conversion takes about 20
seconds (about the same as cash, credit cards, and debit
cards).
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