Bailey Reutzel

CSI Enterprises Inc. has its sights on the travel industry, offering businesses a way to track employee expenses with its new globalVCard mobile payment app.

People — and payment companies — are starting to take Bitcoin seriously.The decentralized virtual currency is overcoming its stigma as a fringe currency for illegal transactions and is stirring up consumer scrutiny of the practices of large payment providers. The payments industry is changing rapidly, but today the movement isn't about payments — it's about data.

Chirpify, which lets people initiate payments over social media, has secured another $2 million in funding and now counts rappers Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg as clients.

BlueSnap is offering its SnapMobile optimization technology, which aims to see more consumers complete the purchases they initiate on mobile devices.

Pulse, a Discover Financial Services debit and ATM network, is partnering with fisoc Inc. to roll out the Buzz Points loyalty program to financial institutions.

Braintree Inc., a small mobile payment vendor founded in 2007, has attracted employees and board members from some of the biggest technology companies. Its recruits say the young company promises a more dynamic environment than the industry giants can provide.

Contactless payment cards are being shipped at a faster rate than any time in the technology's decade-long history.

Possibly viewing Bitfloor, a popular Bitcoin exchange, as a risky money transmitting business, Capital One Financial Corp. has closed the exchange's bank account, prompting Bitfloor to halt operations. The incident may portend a growing wariness of businesses that handle virtual currencies.

The use of ultrasonic noise — silent to the human ear — in mobile payments and rewards hasn't garnered as much attention as Near Field Communication chips and QR codes, but there are a few successful implementations.

American Express Co. is continuously trying to broadening its scope, shedding its image as a card for the elite to instead appeal to teens and young adults.

The merchant-backed mobile wallet consortium, Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), announced today its working with the technology company Gemalto.

The prepaid card industry has a lot to teach the companies that handle virtual currencies, as the Bitcoin economy begins to attract the same regulatory scrutiny prepaid cards received over the past several years.

American Express Co. is using its Serve digital wallet in a partnership with the student hub Chegg to allow college students to receive faster payment from selling textbooks.

American Express, in naming Edward P. Gilligan as president, rewarded the executive's three-decade career with the company and filled a spot that was vacant since Alfred Kelly left the position in early 2010.

Less than three years ago, Visa described a financial institution's request to issue EMV-chip cards as "a unique situation" and "not an everyday query." Times have certainly changed.

LevelUp's partnership with Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services could expand the mobile payment system's presence in the Midwest, a region that has received less attention from startups than San Francisco and New York.

Bank of America says it and other banks, which have a full view of each customer's financial needs, are well-positioned to succeed as mobile payments providers.

OpenCoin, Chris Larsen's virtual-currency venture, announced today it has closed funding from several investors, including Bitcoin Opportunity Fund.

As the Merchant Customer Exchange asserts its position in the mobile wallet market, it emphasizes that the path to a consumer’s physical wallet runs through retailers.

PayPal's long-watched partnership with Discover, which will allow Discover merchants to accept PayPal payments at the point of sale, is on track to launch April 19.