David Heun

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.

The Debit Network Alliance last week officially launched its shared application identifier (AID) for EMV debit routing, but merchants likely won't be in any rush to implement the technology despite the fast-approaching Oct. 1 liability shift.

Electronic multi-card device maker Coin has added technology to enable contactless payments at some retail locations.

Loyalty programs have often been considered a key motivator to shift consumers to mobile payments and away from cash and cards. But few companies have actually blended mobile with loyalty in a compelling way.

U.K.-based grocer Sainsbury's is readying a contactless payment shopping app that allows consumers to pick out items before they even get to the store and confirm payment upon leaving through a "payment zone."

More than 212 million biometric authentication devices will be shipped over the next decade for use in financial services, according to recent Tractica market research.