Electronic Payments

Industry Contacts

Electronic Payments

As the payment industry continues to grow and evolve, companies engaged in electronic payments need legal expertise and specialized resources to help guide them through the complex and competitive ecosystem. The ever-changing landscape, including new disruptors, make it vital for companies to stay informed and navigate uncertainties successfully and cost-effectively.

Taft strategically advises clients globally on both the legal and business issues, representing them on regulatory, compliance, contractual, and transactional matters. Our attorneys also counsel on pertinent changes including state and federal laws and regulations as well as strategic business alliances.

Our broad range of clients include financial institutions, acquiring banks, and payment facilitators and processors, digital currency companies, fintech companies, independent sales organizations (ISOs), marketplaces, money transmitters, mobile payment providers, prepaid access providers, and electronic fund transfer businesses.

We help clients identify, navigate, and mitigate legal risks and achieve their business goals. With decades of experience focusing on and specializing in the payments industry, payments law is what we do.

Our nationally recognized team brings a deep bench of legal, business, and industry experience and provides a strategic approach to the most complex legal aspects within the payments industry. Our attorneys are deeply immersed in industry groups and thought leadership, which enables us to gain insights and anticipate unforeseen business challenges and regulatory trends facing the industry. We specialize in:

Merchant Acquiring: Providing industry-focused legal counsel to payment participants to navigate the complex industry ecosystem while understanding the business sensitivities surrounding merchant portfolios and payment acceptance.
Payment Processing: Advising on ever-changing legal and card brand requirements and market trends with respect to contractual obligations s to ensure deals are structurally sound and comport with the most up-to-date industry standards and best practices.
Fintech: Delivering counsel to emerging fintech companies dealing in payment transactions or movements of funds on state and federal regulatory challenges and related compliance requirements.
Cryptocurrency: Counseling on the use of cryptocurrency payment acceptance and advising on federal and state laws applicable to providers involved in administering or exchanging crypto and fiat currencies.

Our attorneys are frequently asked to write for industry publications, serve on national panels, and provide leadership as committee members and officers of industry trade associations, including the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), PayTech Women (PTW, formerly Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions, or Wnet), and the Money Services Business Association (MSBA).

Visit Taft’s Paytech & Payment Systems Insights blog for pertinent updates in the ever-changing payments universe.

Related Practices

Related Industries

Notable Matters

Our payment industry attorneys provide business-oriented and actionable advice and solutions to our clients, including:

Assisting clients in the negotiation, diligence, and transactional arrangements in connection with the buy and sell sides of payment companies and assets.
Negotiating sponsorship agreements for processors, payment facilitators and ISOs, having experience representing both the acquiring bank and the sponsored entity.
Advising payment providers and money remitters on complex regulatory issues including federal and state laws and regulations regarding: money services businesses (MSBs), money transmission, prepaid access, anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC) and beneficial ownership, and Regulation E.
Preparing nationwide surveys of nuanced money transmission laws and exemptions including the applicability of agent-of-payee, authorized delegate, payment processor, and other agency exemptions.
Counseling sponsoring banks, processors, ISOs, and payment facilitators on merchant agreements, terms of use, and disclosures in light of increased regulatory scrutiny.
Working with payment participants in navigating the rules of the various card brands and Nacha.
Advising on the implementation of surcharge, cash discount, and convenience fee models.