David Heun

In a push to get commuters in Athens, Greece away from paying cash for public transit tickets, the mobile ticketing provider Masabi will add MasterCard's MasterPass as a payment option.

Processor First Data is working more closely with long-time partner Underwriters Laboratories to speed up the EMV testing process and certify the chip-card technology in the U.S.

Government officials in Gujarat will partner with MasterCard to pursue a goal of being the first state in India to have a digital payments system.

A Swiss bank has partnered with acquirer SIX Payment Services to issue a debit card that enables both contactless and regular transactions.

ICICI Bank has launched what it calls India's first contactless debit and credit cards using Near Field Communication technology.

Nine Polish banks are pushing ahead with the country's mobile payment efforts, promising to launch a Visa-backed, cloud-based contactless service early this year.

The European Commission last month drafted another version of its proposed revision of the Payment Services Directive, known as PSD2 in Europe, with a goal of enacting a wider regulation of payments and interchange fees that reflects modern technology, security threats and stakeholders in payments.

The earliest implementations of the 3D Secure e-commerce system amounted to a password for consumers' payment cards and a link between consumer and card issuer — an idea that is growing stale in a world where consumers are able to authenticate payments with more sophisticated tech.

Like a coach turning to an old playbook, fraudsters have resurrected an e-mail spam method to attempt to steal personal and card data from bank customers in the U.K.

Financial messaging service provider Swift has made good on a 2010 commitment to reduce fees and will issue more than 30 million euros (U.S. $35.8 million) in rebates to service users worldwide.

Though Amazon.com's Fire Phone sputtered out as soon as it launched, the company has built a solid foundation in mobile payments that will fuel its next big moves in 2015.

Sellers using e-commerce marketplace Atomic Mail can now add Dwolla as a payment option on the checkout pages of their websites.

Mobile operators in Taiwan now support the nation's largest mobile commerce platform, which enables Near Field Communication mobile payments.

Brazil's central bank has approved a joint venture between Banco do Brasil SA, the nation's largest bank by assets, and card payment processor Cielo SA, but the bank cannot claim accounting gains in its projected profits.

To say the Softcard mobile wallet had an interesting year would be an understatement. By the end of 2014, it had a new name and a new competitor: the formidable Apple Pay.

Customers give slightly higher marks to retail banks for their overall customer service than they do to credit card issuers, even if the credit card service is a division of the same bank, according to a recent survey of credit and debit cardholders.

Square is committed to its diversification strategy, furthering its transformation from a simple mobile point of sale provider to a company that also handles small-business loans, marketing and e-commerce.

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., will accept Apple Pay as a companion to its own contactless payment cards and wristbands.

Banks are still throwing support behind Apple Pay – 10 more banks signed up for the service in mid-December. Yet many say they're keeping their mobile wallet options open.

Capital One plans to take advantage of two major marketing initiatives — its support of Apple Pay and sponsorship of the Orange Bowl – to give its bank-branded mobile wallet a boost.