David Heun

"If we stay the course, I’m optimistic that we’ll put an end to the era of mass data breaches at merchants," Richey predicts. However, she has been in the payments industry for 22 years and does not approach her job with blinders.

As the payments industry advances at a lightning-fast speed, Stephanie Ferris plans on enjoying that ride — as long as it benefits Vantiv's customers.

Patty Watson admits she stays awake at night with thoughts of what, to TSYS and its clients, would be a true nightmare — a data breach. But that fear keeps Watson focused on the task at hand of assuring such threats can be thwarted.

Developers will now be able to access much of Visa's technology and services as the card network looks for ways to meet the demands of consumers increasingly relying on connected devices to transact.

For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, Visa is inviting third-party software developers onto its network with the goal of advancing digital commerce.

U.S. merchants are still reluctant to embrace 3D Secure technology to protect card-not-present transactions, even though it has vastly improved from the initial tedious version that irritated consumers more than a decade ago.

Square, which has been selling its Apple-friendly new reader for $49 on its own site, revealed Feb. 3 that it will sell the readers for the same price at Apple stores.

Seeking a way to rid its network of paper tickets, rail operators in the U.K. are extending the use of contactless ticketing through smartphones or cards.

The European Commission wants to snuff out terrorist funding, a strategy that could include tight monitoring of cash and Bitcoin, and national account registers.

For many e-commerce merchants, the migration to EMV-chip card security at the point of sale — and the expected shift of fraud to the Web — is akin to a message in a bottle that hasn't washed ashore. Too many simply don't know about it.