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My guest this week asks a multi-billion dollar (or euro or yen) question: In the world of payments, is the balance of power shifting from banks to retailers? “Yes” says Matt Simester, head of Auriemma Consulting’s UK office, “we are seeing the rise of retailer power on a number of fronts.” Take interchange (the transaction fee paid by merchant to a bank): legislation in the US, EU and elsewhere has cut interchange rates (and bank income). Merchants were supposed to pass the savings on to consumers. But have they? Or rewards programs: many merchants are pushing their own loyalty programs over b
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