David Heun

MasterCard is talking to Merchant Customer Exchange executives about what role the card brand could play in the retailers' CurrentC mobile wallet, but the card brand insists it is just an interested observer in the merchant mobile wallet venture.

Apple Pay was supposed to be the catalyst that finally convinced banks, merchants and consumers to leave their wallets at home and start paying with their phones. But a year later, it seems mobile wallets still need One More Thing to get off the ground.

Making its first entry into the financial exchange space, Dwolla will provide real-time payments clearing and settlement capabilities for the CME Group futures and options marketplace.

In teaming with financial institution technology provider FIS, The Clearing House has gained one more piece in assembling its real-time payments system.

The alliance between JPMorgan Chase and the Merchant Customer Exchange represents more than an olive branch between two industries that have typically been at war over fee revenue — it's a result of a years-long transformation in how Chase approaches its relationships with the retail sector.

New mobile wallets like the Merchant Customer Exchange's CurrentC may find themselves in conflict with other high-tech mobile apps that came to market sooner.

Microsoft Corp. has never been a dominant name in mobile payments, but it has dabbled enough in the process to draw interest around the payment potential of its Windows operating system.

Most mobile wallets clearly favor one industry over another, with banks and retailers often pitted against each other in a battle over payment card fees. JPMorgan Chase just made a stunning move by conceding some of this ground to the benefit of the Merchant Customer Exchange.

Most mobile wallets clearly favor one industry over another, with banks and retailers often pitted against each other in a battle over payment card fees. JPMorgan Chase just made a stunning move by conceding some of this ground to the benefit of the Merchant Customer Exchange.

The bank owners of the clearXchange payments network and the Early Warning risk management service hope that by combining the two programs, they can remain in control of technologies that will become core to mobile commerce.

The bank owners of the clearXchange payments network and the Early Warning risk management service hope that by combining the two programs, they can remain in control of technologies that will become core to mobile commerce.

In responding to advancements in digital payments and consumer tech-savviness, Western Union has launched WU Connect to link its global money transfer services to messaging and social media platforms.

Nok Nok Labs has expanded its suite of payment authentication services for the Fast IDentity Online Alliance infrastructure, adding one-touch biometrics, out-of-band authentication and measures to address friendly fraud.

Bluetooth beacons are gradually appearing in more stores, and some experts predict their use will grow more rapidly once the devices establish a strong link to payments and other vital retail systems.

The combination of location-based marketing and mobile wallets is relatively new territory for merchants and consumers, bringing these two parties so close together that they may start to overlap.

Addressing the desire of small merchants that want a straightforward way to sell online, Square and Ecwid are partnering to synchronize sales and inventory between the physical and digital worlds.

Adyen wants fraud-detection software to learn from its mistakes, but it also wants a system that can teach the user about why it is reaching certain conclusions.

MasterCard plans to add its tokenization service to the MasterPass digital wallet to boost security for online and in-app purchasing.

With EMV cards fighting counterfeit fraud at the point of sale, Gemalto Inc. says the timing is perfect to launch a payment card with a dynamic verification code to provide a similar improvement to e-commerce security.

Even before Apple Pay burst onto the scene last year as an enabler — and, in many ways, a competitor — of bank mobile wallets, U.S. banks have been told by investors, industry experts and customers to develop their own payment apps.