DRF Survey Reveals Merchant Concerns Regarding Durbin Effects

BROOKFIELD, Wis., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Q1 survey by the Direct Response Forum revealed that leading CNP merchants share a variety of concerns regarding how the Durbin interchange law could affect their operations.  A full 47% expressed concern with the need to update recurring payment processes due to the expected decrease in debit card approvals and an increased use of pre-paid cards.

With corporate IT funding scarce, it is difficult to say if merchants can implement system changes to keep pace with the anticipated changes in bank strategies if the Durbin law is implemented as drafted. Only 8% indicate that fees saved from debit card interchange would be diverted to pay for the needed payment systems development.  An additional 11% said they will not accept pre-paid cards for recurring/installment programs which will force them to find another solution for these payments.

The survey also reported that 58% of the respondents currently do not accept mobile payments and have no plans for mobile payments in 2011.

"While mobile payments continue to garner a lot of press only 30% of the merchants we surveyed indicated they would be implementing a mobile strategy in 2011.  This compares to over 60% that have a social networking strategy that will impact payments," says Chantal Gaspie, DRF Executive Chair.

Every year the Direct Response Forum attracts the top card not present payment professionals from around the world to the annual DRF.  The merchant members of the DRF represent billions of dollars of credit and debit transactions every year. This Q1 survey garnered 98 responses.  For more information on the survey results sign up for the DRF Quarterly at www.directresponseforum.org or contact us at [email protected].

About Direct Response Forum, Inc.

The Direct Response Forum (www.directresponseforum.org) brings together leading direct merchants, acquirers, card companies and service providers for two days of interactive panels, breakout sessions, and roundtable discussions focused on key topics affecting the customer/card not present (CNP) merchant community.  The Direct Response Forum is a not-for-profit educational organization that is managed by a Board of Directors that are executives at leading companies including  Affinion Group, Ancestry.com, Digital River Inc., Expedia Inc., L.L. Bean Inc., ShopNBC, Transamerica Life and Protection, and Western Union.

SOURCE Direct Response Forum, Inc.