The FTC Wants Mastercard To Share Data With Other Payment Networks
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants Mastercard to provide other payment networks access to card information.
According to a proposed public decision on Friday (Dec. 23), Mastercard would be required to provide competitor networks access to consumer account data necessary to process debit payments.
According to Holly Vedova, head of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, that is a victory for consumers and businesses who depend on debit card payments to function.
The FTC order focuses on transactions that employ tokens.
Tokenization replaces a sensitive data piece with a non-sensitive counterpart, known as a token, with no external or exploitable meaning or value. Through a tokenization system, the token serves as a reference that links back to the sensitive data.
According to a report from October, the FTC was looking into whether the security tokens used by Mastercard and Visa impede debit-card routing competition on certain digital payments.
According to the FTC’s Friday news release, the proposed order would compel Mastercard to give rival networks the client’s account number corresponding to a token the network receives to complete a debit card payment.
Mastercard acknowledged that it had signed the deal with the FTC in a statement given to PYMNTS. The company stated that it would adjust its procedures to comply with the decision and offer “even more flexibility.” Still, it thinks its current routing policies are legal and give merchants options.
There should be no doubt that tokenized transactions offer more safety to both customers and merchants, according to Mastercard, who stated in the statement that they are taking these steps to bring this issue to an end. Its emphasis on security directs our efforts in a highly competitive industry and motivates us to keep investing in technology, supporting the security level that every individual deserves.
The FTC approved the consent agreement by a vote of 4 to 0. Once the deal has been published in the Federal Register, the public can comment on it. The proposed order will then be subject to a final decision by the commission.
