Past Articles

2024 Year at a Glance

The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) has achieved significant milestones in 2024, advancing our mission of supporting merchants in the payments industry through collaboration, advocacy, and education. MAG has demonstrated its dedication to fostering a supportive and informed payments ecosystem by hosting industry partners at our record-breaking events – including two international conferences and several regional meetups, increasing engagement with government stakeholders, and launching new payments-focused eLearning courses. Here’s a look at some of MAG’s most impactful achievements this year.

Enhance Your Expertise with The MAG’s Latest Educational Offerings

The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) is committed to providing valuable learning opportunities for the payments industry, and 2024 was a year full of exciting new on-demand educational offerings. In addition to four microlearning courses, we launched a full-length course specifically for senior leaders.

Exploring Public Affairs in the Payments Industry

Leslie Crisp joined the MAG staff in 2024 as the Director of Public Affairs. Josh Pynn, Senior Manager, Payments Content at the MAG, explores her journey to public affairs, her professional background, and what excites her about stepping into this role in the payments industry.

International Recap 2024

2024 was an incredible year for the Merchant Advisory Group (MAG)! We broke new ground with our inaugural MAG Payments Summit – London 24 and in November, we concluded our largest-ever MAG Payments Summit – Singapore 24, showcasing remarkable progress and achievements across our global events.

A Conversation with MAG Board Director Pam Stults

Pam Stults was elected to the MAG Board of Directors in 2024. We spoke with her about her journey into the payments industry, what led her to engage with the MAG, and her path to becoming a Board member.

AI in Payments: Enhancing Human Performance and Driving Progress

At the MAG Payments Conference 2024, industry experts discussed AI's role in enhancing payments processes. Key takeaways include the importance of solid data foundations, human oversight in AI implementation, and continuous improvement in AI strategies. The speakers highlighted Justt's approach to AI-driven chargeback management, demonstrating how AI can improve operational efficiency and revenue recovery for merchants.

2024 W3C TPAC Recap

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) held their annual conference, better known as TPAC, the week of September 23, 2024. This year also marked the 30th anniversary of the Consortium and the 35th anniversary of the Web itself. While W3C sets standards for all things Web, two of the groups most relevant to payments are the Web Payments Working Group (WPWG) and the Web Payments Security Interest Group (WPSIG). The focus of the WPWG is to make payments easier and more secure on the Web. The purpose of the WPSIG is to enhance the security and interoperability of various Web payments technologies by creating a forum for organizations to collaborate on identifying gaps between existing technical specifications and improve compatibility between technologies. Both groups held meetings during the conference, and in this article, I will touch on some of my takeaways.

New Community of Practice (COP) – Fraud

Earlier this year we launched a new Community of Practice (COP) focused on fraud. Now you may ask yourself, what does that mean? Fraud encompasses many variables and aspects of the payments industry, so our first step was answering this very question. In March, we sent a survey to our merchant members soliciting feedback on exactly what they wanted this COP to focus on. The overwhelming consensus identified compelling evidence and friendly fraud chargeback mitigation programs as the top priorities.

My Journey in Payments and Membership at the Core

My name is Jared, I am the Manager of Membership Growth and Engagement at the MAG. For those of you I did not meet in at MAG Payments Conference in Orlando, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself as I continue to get acquainted with all of you. Like many people in the payments industry, my origin story was one of pure happenstance. I’ve heard some of the most captivating tales as to how others found their way into the payments space, so I figured it would be interesting to tell my story of how I got here, what I find particularly exciting about the MAG, and the road ahead.

What’s All the Buzz with Faster Payments?

In the last year, the Federal Reserve’s launch of faster payments has generated significant media coverage. Additionally, there has been notable activity in the retail space regarding faster payments. What is this all about and where might faster payments be headed in the future?

MAG Payments Conference 24 – A Thriving Gathering of Industry Peers

Thank you to all who attended our inaugural rebranded MAG Payments Conference 24! The event brought together a diverse group of payments industry professionals who were eager to connect, share insights, and learn about industry trends.

Don’t Get Smoked Combating Fraud This Holiday Season

If you are still spending your day in a fraud tool writing condition rules based on chargeback reports, you’re getting smoked. Fraud moves faster than ever, and it moves way faster than you or your company can handle - you just may not realize it yet.

States Step In: Tackling Interchange on Sales Tax

In recent years, multiple state legislatures have begun looking at how interchange is calculated and charged to merchants. One issue gaining attention is interchange fees being applied to the sales tax portion of transactions. Since most interchange fees are percentage-based, the total fee increases with the sales tax—despite merchants only collecting this tax to remit it to the government.

The Promise Of Low Code/No Code Platforms In Merchant Payments

Low-code/No-code (LCNC) platforms allow applications, analytics, and data transformations to be “coded” by people who are not software engineers. Financial services and payments companies that leverage LCNC platforms across their technology footprint see rapid returns as the platforms mature. Read about three LCNC platforms available now.

The Power of Collaboration

Stakeholders working together to achieve a common goal, or outcome is one of the core tenets of the Merchant Advisory Group’s (MAG) mission and a cornerstone of effecting positive change in the payments ecosystem. Our merchant members gravitate to the various forums within the MAG, which provide them the opportunity to collaborate with various stakeholders, including the card brands, acquirers, service providers, and other merchants.

The Changing Role of Merchants in Payments

When I began my career in payments, I remember the very first meeting I attended was with a collaboration group. The Federal Reserve of Minneapolis hosted it, and the subject was check fraud. Yes, I have been in the industry that long. In that discussion, I was surrounded by all the various people who supported the check infrastructure, but I was the only representative from the merchant payments side. As the conversation went around the room, I heard all the participants weigh in with the various theories on reducing check fraud. To my amazement, the conversation was around the number of assumptions being shared as if it was the merchant perspective. When my turn came around, I spent the first part of my discussion dispelling half of the things that were said with the real experience of the merchant/customer interaction before I could even get to the truth of what might be done to eliminate the fraud.

Optimizing 3-D Secure to Improve Authorization Rates for eCommerce

The ABCs of MAGs Involvement with Standards Bodies

The payments ecosystem is built on ubiquity and consistent standards, and the MAG continues to be a key player in discussions with the standards bodies that impact payments. The MAG is involved with these standards bodies to drive innovation in the payments space and ensure merchants can operate in an efficient and competitive marketplace.

MAG Payments Conference 24 Is Just Around the Corner

We look forward to welcoming you to the first rollout of our rebranded September Conference, MAG Payments Conference 24, September 16 – September 19 at Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek. Our industry-leading conferences are synonymous with excellence and our first MAG Payments Conference will continue this tradition.

Navigating Sponsorship Options: Annual, Tech Forum, and Conference Sponsorships

Over the years, the MAG has grown from a small group of individuals meeting to address the needs of merchants within the payments ecosystem, to an international organization that engages with merchants and payments industry service providers from across all verticals through our two annual conferences, webinars, committees, SIGs and more. The MAG has also expanded our sponsorship program since its inception. Below I break down the differences between the three sponsorship opportunities that the MAG offers.