David Heun

Because federal regulations threw a wrench into the debit card industry as it prepared for EMV, merchants will be accepting primarily EMV credit cards when the liability shift hits in exactly three weeks.

Android Pay is in the market, and it joins a mix of mobile pay ventures such as Apple Pay and the pending Samsung Pay that will drive a revolution in how people engage retail and execute transactions.

With the EMV liability shift less than a month away, U.S. merchants have far more on their plates than merchants in other countries had when only weeks from migrating to chip-based payment cards.

Retail ATM provider Cardtronics Inc. has renewed its service agreement with Target Corp. as the exclusive provider of ATMs for the national retailer.

Kash Corp. is prepared to move into the money transfer world, launching an application programming interface (API) that will allow companies of all sizes to accept direct debit payments without credit card fees.

MasterCard Europe is making a major push to increase mobile payments acceptance points and encourage higher value transactions, considered a “tipping point” in the market’s maturation.

Stockholm-based mobile wallet provider Seamless Distribution AB is seeking beta testers for a new digital cash register service that would become part of its SEQR wallet application.

CHICAGO — Mobile payments got the kind of promotional kick it will need in the future — from a veteran country music star — at the annual Mobile Payments Conference this week.

Global money transfer provider WorldRemit has launched a service to enable customers in 52 countries to use its application to send money to all Bosnian and Croatian bank accounts.

CHICAGO — The mobile commerce revolution is pressuring legacy payment companies to quickly diversify to stay relevant, leading Discover Financial Services to build a gateway where merchants can add digital transactions and other services.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. has completed its acquisition of data security vendor and researcher Trustwave, about four months after the companies initially announced the deal.

CHICAGO — Financial institutions have fallen behind the payments innovation curve, though they can catch up quickly by adopting the faster payments initiatives that are accompanying mobile and digital transactions.

CHICAGO —Heartland Payment Systems CEO Bob Carr will never be accused of not making his feelings known about the Merchant Customer Exchange mobile wallet venture.

The Automated Clearing House is too expensive and complex to provide faster payments for smaller banks and businesses, claims Dwolla, which contends its open system is a better option for those market segments.

CHICAGO — First-generation mobile wallets found themselves in an "unfair fight" against the likes of Starbucks and its branded mobile pay and loyalty system, forcing Google to rethink how it would position Android Pay, Google executive Jack Connors said.

Digital money transfer provider SimbaPay has expanded its deposit service to Choice Microfinance Bank, an institution founded by Kenyans abroad.

The expected launch of Android Pay mostly hit a false alarm last week, but a few signals support the obvious — that the mobile wallet reincarnation of Google Wallet should be right around the corner.

Competition among e-commerce payment gateway providers in Australia has heated up, as key companies have had more than a year to get footing in a country increasingly adapting to new payments technology.

London-based mobile point of sale provider SumUp has received 10 million euros [$11.2 million U.S.] in funding from investors, including American Express, Groupon and BBVA Ventures.

European mobile point of sale gateway provider payworks will offer its service through Miura Systems' EMV and Near Field Communication mobile terminals.