David Heun

Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to stifle economic growth globally, Western Union again pointed to its fast-growing digital services as key to keeping the company on a positive trend.

As global e-commerce grows and more sellers are attracted to the marketplace concept, it's become a challenge to keep fraudulent sellers out.

Cross-border payments provider dLocal has expanded its network services in Africa and developed new partnerships in Nigeria and Egypt.

The inability for an e-commerce merchant to know about a fraud problem at another merchant checkout page can limit transaction monitoring and security.

Less than a year after Curve launched its cross-border P2P service to solidify its mobile banking app, the London-based company says it is expanding into Lithuania to establish a post-Brexit European base.

JCB International has entered an acquiring partnership with Riyad Bank to enable acceptance of JCB cards at merchant terminals and ATMs throughout Saudi Arabia.

Skipify is working with Google's Gmail to enable shopping and purchasing for email users.

With the COVID-19 pandemic creating unprecedented challenges for small businesses, American Express has increasingly targeted its investments in that niche.

Small and midsize merchants in North America continue to struggle with the effects of COVID-19 on their bottom lines, but those who have developed an online presence and made changes to in-store payments have found the process to be a vital step.

At a time when contactless payments via QR codes are on the rise, Incognia is launching a fraud protection solution for payments providers, retailers and restaurants.

Payments technology entrepreneur Will Graylin is launching OV Valet Superkey, a payment card and digital wallet that can initiate touchless payments at more than 90% of all payment terminals. It pairs with an app that supports messaging and live chat functions.

Capital markets play a key role in a modern economy because they move money, stocks or bonds from people who have them to those who need them to execute trades, secure equities or invest. But as core a function as this is, it hasn't been very fast.

MagicCube has launched i-Accept, a software-based replacement for traditional terminals, allowing acquiring banks and financial services providers to offer merchants an option for contactless and PIN payment acceptance through Android devices.

A shift to online payments and digital technology across the globe occurred at warp speed during the coronavirus pandemic, but that trend doesn't magically solve payments challenges in various markets, nor does it render the fundamentals of customer service less meaningful.

Riding a technology wave that helps attract more customers and generate more revenue sounds appealing enough — but with contactless payments, there isn't always a clear upgrade path for stores that have relied on older terminals.

Payments provider B4B Payments has been authorized to become an e-money institution in the U.K., and is seeking a license in Lithuania so the company can advance its prepaid card business throughout Europe.

EMV specifications body EMVCo has started a pilot program to evaluate consumer mobile devices for contactless payment acceptance, enabling vendors to have smartphones and tablets evaluated for possible use by merchants to accept payments without attached card readers.

Compliance startup Shujinko is launching software designed to automate the cloud security compliance process for businesses, saying it makes the security audit far simpler and faster for businesses.

It's a perplexing problem for those developing and instituting Payment Card Industry data security standards: Even as threats rise, the number of organizations that fully comply continues to drop.

With a target of doubling its customer base to six million by 2021, Saudia Arabian digital wallet STCPay will operate through banking software company Temenos to expand its payments and mobile banking reach throughout the Middle East.