The Green Sheet Online Edition
March 3, 2012 • 12:03:01
10 Years ago in
The Green Sheet
Worldwide payment provider PayPal Inc., 2012 Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich and major card brand Visa Inc. were making news a decade ago, and they're doing the same today. PayPal recently stepped into the brick-and-mortar POS payments realm, Gingrich is back on the campaign trail and Visa is still at odds with retailers over interchange fees.
PayPal IPO raises $1.2 billion on first day
On Feb. 15, 2002, PayPal celebrated its initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Market, opening at $13 per share and closing at $20.05, bringing the company's total stock value to $1.2 billion on its inaugural trading day. At the time, PayPal boasted over 12 million registered users in 37 countries.
Gingrich keynote speaker at ETA 2002
During the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting & Expo in Orlando, Fla., former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich was scheduled to deliver the keynote address covering relevant topics ranging from international finance to potential threats from terrorist, military and international criminal activities.
Visa softens stance on interchange fees
Responding to backlash by major retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Visa backtracked on a proposed increase in interchange fees on transactions processed over its PIN-based network, Interlink. Visa instead agreed to offer volume discounts to "qualifying" merchants via a tiered structure based on merchant type and Interlink transaction and sales volumes.

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