David Heun

The McDonald's at 6 Water St. in New York City has been shut down for more than two months, as it was one of the first buildings struck by surges of sea water from Hurricane Sandy. The ATM inside, if it still exists, has been inaccessible ever since. But the machine has shown up for weeks afterwards on some ATM locator smartphone apps, which did not notice the machine's absence in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Heartland Payment Systems has boosted its payroll services by acquiring Ovation Payroll, a Rochester, N.Y.-based outsourcing company.

Churches often frown on worshippers bringing mobile phones into services. But they may have a different view if those churchgoers use their phones to make donations to the church.

Consumer use of prepaid gift cards grew 10% in 2012, up to $110 billion in card loads, but an increase in fraudulent use of those cards and a growing need to protect consumers could follow, a new report warns.

Visitors of the Vatican Museum in Vatican City will need cash to buy tickets and souvenirs in the aftermath of Italy’s central bank ordering all payment terminals deactivated, AFP reported Jan. 3.

If things are truly bigger in Texas, then mPowa CEO Dan Wagner figures it's a good place for merchants to be able to accept credit card payments via mobile devices in those wide, open spaces.

MasterCard Inc. plans to introduce its contactless payment technology into Azerbaijan during the first half of 2013.

With many of its legal questions and organizational issues addressed, the Merchant Customer Exchange has turned its focus to the technology that will drive its mobile commerce initiative.

Since Google Wallet launched on Sprint, the only major U.S. carrier not involved in the Isis mobile wallet venture, rival carriers have resisted putting Google's payment system on their phones. Verizon Wireless in particular has been the focus of media criticism and, most recently, has been holding its ground against an FCC inquiry as well.

As 2012 progressed, one thing became strikingly clear: the card networks do not want to be left behind as new digital payment methods threaten plastic.

Contactless payments have not caught on in the UK because consumers don't think payments are safe without a PIN, says SmartDebit, a Surrey-based payments processor in the UK, in response to recent figures published by ICM Research.

The Australian telcos – Optus, Telstra and Vodafone — all provided indications of a more concerted effort to make contactless mobile payments a bigger play in 2013.

As 2012 progressed, one thing became strikingly clear: the card networks do not want to be left behind as new digital payment methods threaten plastic.

EVO Payments International plans to move into the Spanish market with a proposed acquisition of Banco Popular's merchant acquiring business.

Powa Technologies Ltd. brought its mPowa mobile card reader into the U.S. market last year, looking to take on Square in what had become a highly competitive market. The London-based company plans to extend its international expansion to India as well.

It's nearly a full year since finance guru Suze Orman faced a backlash over her prepaid card fees and two years since the pricey Kardashian Kard went kaput — and yet the prepaid card market remains under fire for its pricing. Even so, prepaid cards are growing in popularity.

After a flurry of activity in the past year and a half to establish itself as a global payments processor, EVO Payments International LLC plans to move into the Spanish market with a proposed acquisition of Banco Popular's merchant acquiring business.

The Isis mobile wallet, a joint venture of AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, proceeded with great caution in 2012, delaying its test launches and generally keeping most industry observers guessing as to where the initiative stood. At the same time, Isis was keeping pace with the progress of Google Wallet, which launched a year earlier.

Fraud and data security trends can change by the minute, often making it difficult to pinpoint a specific development as a key event during the course of a year. Not so in 2012.

McDonald's is adding more tap-and-go acceptance at its payment terminals worldwide.