In this episode of Payments Pros, host Keith Barnett examines a recent FTC enforcement action targeting an alleged unlawful subscription scheme involving 15 corporations and eight individuals operating through Cyprus- and Ukraine-based entities with access to U.S. payment rails. Keith discusses the FTC's continued focus on deceptive advertising, undisclosed recurring charges, unauthorized billing, and burdensome cancellation practices, and explains why these issues carry significant implications for companies operating in the payments ecosystem. He walks through the FTC's five-stage playbook allegations, including the failure to clearly disclose subscription terms, the use of engaging online tasks to drive purchases, and the deliberate obstruction of cancellation mechanisms. Keith also highlights the broad temporary restraining order agreed to by several defendants, covering asset freezes, foreign asset repatriation, customer data protections, and expedited discovery extending to third-party banks and payment processors. The episode closes with a reminder that the Trump-era FTC remains active and aggressive in the payments space, with businesses advised to prioritize clear disclosures, simple cancellation options, and strong BSA compliance practices.

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In this episode of Payments Pros, host Keith Barnett examines a recent FTC enforcement action involving alleged violations of the FTC Act and ROSCA. Keith discusses the FTC's continued focus on negative option features, automatic renewals, subscription disclosures, free trial conversions, and cancellation practices, and explains why these issues remain important for companies operating in the payments ecosystem. He walks through the FTC's allegations regarding insufficient disclosure of key subscription terms, including automatic renewal provisions and early cancellation fees, as well as concerns about burdensome cancellation processes for consumers. Keith also highlights how the action reflects a broader enforcement trend, with the FTC remaining active in the payments space despite increased attention on changes at the CFPB. The episode closes with practical takeaways for businesses, including the importance of clear disclosures, simple cancellation mechanisms, and careful internal communications regarding subscription and billing practices.

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In this crossover episode of Payments Pros and Regulatory Oversight, Stephen Piepgrass and Keith Barnett provide an update on the fast-developing prediction markets landscape. They discuss how federal and state regulators are responding to the growth of event contracts and the legal questions surrounding this emerging market. The conversation highlights the CFTC's continued focus on oversight, market integrity, and the need for platforms to maintain strong controls to detect and prevent manipulation or other improper trading activity.

Stephen and Keith also address the evolving relationship between federal and state regulatory authority, including questions about how prediction markets should be classified and supervised. With litigation in multiple jurisdictions and potential rulemaking on the table, platforms, market participants, investors, and businesses with a stake in this space should keep an eye on how the regulatory framework develops.

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In this special crossover episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance podcasts, Carlin McCrory, Keith Barnett, and Chris Willis explore the federal government's increasing attention to “debanking” and what it means for payment processors, money transmitters, banks, and other financial services providers. They discuss recent federal initiatives and agency activity that have heightened scrutiny of decisions to onboard, maintain, or terminate customers and merchants, particularly where those decisions may be perceived as based on political or religious viewpoints.

The conversation highlights emerging regulatory theories about when debanking could be treated as an unfair practice, and how those theories align with existing statutory and case law frameworks. The group also examines the interaction between legitimate risk management under the BSA and reputational risk.

They close with practical takeaways for the industry, including the importance of revisiting risk and onboarding practices, aligning those practices with evolving regulatory expectations, and maintaining clear documentation to support decisions about customer and merchant relationships in a changing oversight environment.

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In this joint episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance Podcast, guest host Taylor Gess is joined by Stefanie Jackman to discuss amended debt collection regulations and restrictions for creditors, including tight communication limits and enhanced validation requirements. The conversation dives into the rise of coerced debt statutes, shortcomings of traditional identity theft frameworks, and how creditors should adjust training, intake, and escalation protocols to avoid reputational and legal risk. The discussion also explores state medical debt reporting bans, the preemption challenges, and cautious furnishing in the FCRA landscape.

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In this special joint episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance Podcast, guest host Taylor Gess joins Chris Willis and Lori Sommerfield to unpack fair lending risks in point-of-sale finance. They explain how traditional fair lending concepts under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act play out when merchants interact directly with consumers, highlighting risks around discouraging credit applications, discretionary offers, differential assistance, and steering between prime and subprime products. The conversation explores practical risk mitigation tools, such as standardized sales scripts and consumer disclosures, merchant training, and attorney-directed mystery shopping, along with lessons drawn from unfair or deceptive acts or practices enforcement in point-of-sale settings.

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In this episode of Payments Pros, host Carlin McCrory teams up with Hiring to Firing hosts Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter to explore the emerging world of earned wage access (EWA), or on-demand pay, through the lens of the reality TV show Shark Tank. They examine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's evolving approach, rapidly developing (and sometimes conflicting) state laws, and the wage-and-hour and payroll challenges that can arise when employees access their pay early. The discussion also covers how EWA can serve as a powerful recruitment and retention tool, the risk that a well-intentioned benefit can be viewed as a "loan in sheep's clothing," and practical steps HR and in-house counsel can take when vetting vendors or considering in-house EWA programs. Tune in to decide whether EWA is the kind of pitch your HR "sharks" should back — or one that should prompt, "And for that reason, I'm out."

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In this episode of Payments Pros, host Carlin McCrory is joined by Marissa Tartarini of Elliott Davis to explore how banks can build sustainable, scalable fintech partnerships in a shifting regulatory environment. They begin with the foundational risk questions banks should ask before choosing a partner — speed to market, in-house expertise and gaps, strategic fit, and risk appetite — then turn to practical legal and compliance considerations, including staffing, board oversight, and the need for tailored partnership agreements. Marissa and Carlin discuss the challenges of managing multiple fintech programs at once, maintaining up-to-date policies and marketing, and ensuring that growth does not outpace governance and BSA/AML controls. They highlight what separates successful programs from those that fail, lessons from terminated partnerships, and how to prepare for increasingly technical regulatory exams. Carlin and Marissa close the episode with a look at how regulators' and banks' views of fintech partnerships have evolved and what that means for the future of bank-fintech collaboration.

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In this crossover episode, Payments Pros host Keith Barnett teams up with Regulatory Oversight host Stephen Piepgrass to unpack how prediction markets, gaming, and payments intersect in a rapidly evolving and legally uncertain landscape. Drawing on Keith's extensive regulatory experience, they explain what prediction markets are, why these contracts are treated as swaps rather than securities, and how that distinction affects insider trading issues. Keith and Stephen then address the growing tension between federal regulators and state attorneys general over whether these products are trading or unlicensed sports betting, the CFTC chair's recent criticism of "regulation by enforcement," and the NCAA's push to pause college sports contracts. They close by examining what this means for banks, payment processors, and other service providers navigating know-your-customer and "lawful transaction" obligations while the law remains in flux.

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In the second installment of the two-part Payments Year in Review series, hosts Keith Barnett, Carlin McCrory, and Jason Cover focus on the state-level developments that shaped the 2025 payments landscape and will influence 2026.

They begin with buy now, pay later (BNPL) and earned wage access (EWA), explaining how the CFPB's rollback of its BNPL rule has prompted states like New York to regulate "BNPL" products, while states such as Connecticut move to treat common EWA fees as finance charges, in contrast to more permissive regimes like Louisiana.

The discussion then turns to the patchwork of state laws on convenience fees and surcharges, including Oklahoma's new statute and "junk fee" litigation brought in certain states. The episode closes with updates on merchant cash advances, Colorado's DIDMCA opt-out, and growing state adoption of the Money Transmission Modernization Act and related exemptions.

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