David Heun

Google Wallet users can now activate the accompanying plastic Google Wallet card through the mobile app, a process that will become increasingly common as mobile payments advance, experts say.

Google has made more progress by splintering its payments strategy in 2013 than it did when it tried to provide a single, unified product.

Guardian Credit Union plans to offer its members the Buzz Points merchant-funded debit loyalty program, which emphasizes social media interaction.

On Track Innovations Ltd. plans to concentrate more time and money on its payments division after closing the sale of its SmartID business to SuperCom Ltd. last week, the Israel-based payments technology provider says.

Guardian Credit Union plans to offer its members the Buzz Points merchant-funded debit loyalty program, which emphasizes social media interaction.

Google Wallet users who request the accompanying plastic card can activate that card through the wallet's mobile app, a process that will become increasingly common as mobile payments advance, experts say.

Don't let Target's breach of 40 million payment cards overshadow a much scarier incident at Adobe that affected up to 153 million accounts.

A recurring theme for Federal Reserve Banks in 2013 had a familiar - and highly complicated - ring to it for the payments industry. The Fed banks want faster payments in the U.S., but the larger retail banks want to preserve their investments in earlier technology.

Don't let Target's breach of 40 million payment cards overshadow a much scarier incident at Adobe in recent months.

Decoupled debit cards, which draw funds from an account at a separate issuer, are typically framed as a low-cost alternative to cards issued by credit unions and banks.

As more mobile wallets experiment with alternatives to Near Field Communication, Isis stuck to its use of the contactless payment technology. But will that prove to be a winning strategy or just a payments-industry fad?

Decoupled debit cards, which draw funds from an account at a separate issuer, are typically framed as a low-cost alternative to bank cards.

Despite various technology challenges and a recent legal stumbling block in resolving the EMV debit routing issue in the U.S., the EMV Migration Forum says it made significant progress in the past year.

Decoupled debit cards, which draw funds from an account at a separate issuer, are typically framed as a low-cost alternative to bank cards. But in the wake of the massive Target Corp. data breach, security may have suddenly become the product's biggest selling point.

Flipkart Payment Gateway Services has launched a consumer-facing version of PayZippy, allowing shoppers in India to make secure online transactions with numerous merchants.

Card payments account for more than two-thirds of all noncash payments in the U.S., and the number of checks written for payment is less than half of what is was a decade ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank Services' 2013 payments study.

The Target breach, which affected up to 40 million cardholders who shopped at the store from Nov. 27 through Dec. 15, is noteworthy because it affects a massive retailer with deep experience in the credit and debit card businesses and an extreme early adopter of EMV-chip cards in the U.S.

If Target can't protect itself from a data breach, how can any retailer hope to do so?

La Caixa Bank says it will soon launch the largest mobile payment venture in Europe, once again placing the bank at the center of a major European payments initiative.

E-commerce site Snapdeal will launch its own payment gateway to serve Indian merchants and consumers within the next few months, aiming to reduce consumers' use of paper cash.