David Heun

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.

2012 was not the kindest of years to Google's mobile wallet, starting as it did with a security breach and ending with speculation that the a plastic card will be added to the otherwise entirely digital wallet.

If the timing were ever perfect for combining mobile payments or virtual gifting and a drink at a bar, the holidays and New Year's Eve in particular would be it.

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

Google’s mobile wallet appears to be staggering to the finish line of 2012. After all, it was a year that started with a reported security breach and is ending with speculation that the search-engine giant will add a plastic card to the otherwise entirely digital wallet.

For a company that has manufactured point-of-sale terminals in the UK since 1989, Thyron Systems Ltd. admits it has done so in a fairly quiet manner.