In last year’s regulatory outlook, the payments industry was still digesting the early signals of a second Trump administration: a hollowed-out CFPB, a pause on aggressive fee rules, and a widely questioned proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. As we move into 2026, the contours of the new regulatory approach are clearer. […]
In 2025, COCARD did what it does best. In an increasingly competitive and consolidated payments landscape, our focus remained clear: expand our reseller network, empower our member-owners, and enhance the value we deliver to merchants through strong partnerships, reliable technology, and elite service. As the industry consolidates, and as merchants and customers continue to raise […]
In 2025, Embedded finance has taken over basically every consumer industry. Whether you recognize the term, you’ve almost certainly seen embedded financial platforms on your favorite e-commerce site or even at physical checkout. Let’s dive into how embedded finance has changed the game, and how merchants of any size can use it to drive higher […]
In a world of changing tastes and tech, it’s hard to make it to the top. It’s even harder to stay there. Our philosophy is that when you start with what your merchants need, and empower your members with the incentives and products to bring it to them, the rest takes care of itself. Whether […]
AI continues to take the world by storm. It’s hard to go a day without grappling with the newest major breakthrough, as everything from cars to customer service gets automated. It’s even harder to figure out what it means for our industry. One thing is certain: major changes are already underway, and tomorrow’s payment space […]
Why the subscription-based POS model is boosting revenue and delivering better service across the payments ecosystem. Point-of-sale (POS) technology is once again undergoing a major shift. While offices have generally made money selling terminals and collecting modest service fees, the new model centers on recurring revenue through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). While merchants may initially resist the […]
The payments industry is evolving fast, with new technologies transforming how we send, receive, and track money. There are more options than ever to pay, and transaction fees are lower than ever before. We get more useful information from every payment, driving better service and higher sales. But while these innovations promise so much, there […]
Picture this: you’re in the middle of the lunch rush, your staff is juggling orders, and suddenly your point-of-sale system glitches, or it hits you with a surprise hardware update. That’s a nightmare that, sadly, many of us have experienced. Maybe your POS trauma was a forced hardware upgrade that you had to pay for, […]
What’s changed in 2025, and what it means for credit card issuers and payment platforms. In January, we published an article outlining how the credit card and payments landscape might shift depending on the outcome of the 2024 election. When we wrote that post, the industry was in the thick of a regulatory crackdown on […]
QR codes have been around for a long time. Those digitized squares were invented in 1994, and for years their use was mostly limited to industrial inventory management. But in the past few years, and especially since the pandemic, they’ve made a serious comeback. Thanks to smartphones, digital wallets, and changing consumer behavior, QR codes […]