David Heun

Total System Services expanded its payments processing reach this week in Africa and Mexico.

Plastic cards or mobile phones remain popular devices for contactless payment technology developers, but the human wrist is not far behind.

Many in the industry are starting to catch on to the concept that payments, while a critical foundation for mobile wallets, are taking a back seat to the sexier consumer-facing digital coupons, loyalty programs or targeted promotions through a mobile phone.

Heartland Payment Systems continued its mobile payment advancement, recently taking its Mobuyle card reader and software to Apple iOS mobile devices.

To cut the bank’s operating costs at branches, NCR is providing software to SunTrust to allow the bank to receive digital check deposits from multiple remote locations through one channel.

Braintree says its vision for the future of e-commerce received a significant boost when the online and mobile payments provider lured a Google Inc. executive into its fold last month.

Two United Kingdom banks are enrolling customers in a TouchPay trial program in which contactless-enabled sleeves are used on Apple Inc. iPhone 4 and 4S devices.

Payleven has elbowed its way into the crowded mobile card-reader device playing field by offering a chip-and-PIN reader that will first debut in Europe near the end of October.

The key to the success of Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the payments initiative formed by major retailers, may be merchants' motivation to stay in control of their customer relationships.

Despite what you may have heard, the mobile-payment venture Isis did not launch its long-awaited mobile wallet this week in New Jersey. It is simply supported at the cafeterias of one of its parent's headquarters.

Investors on occasion are willing to roll the dice, but more often they support companies with potential for a powerful first step in the marketplace. They do not place Near Field Communication payments technology in either category.

As new mobile-wallet systems appear and old ones fade, many are asking who will win the “mobile wallet wars.” According to the mobile-pay venture Isis, there may never be a clear winner.

This week marks the first time incentives take effect for merchants to accept EMV chip-card payments in the U.S., and although many are on that path, there is still plenty of confusion over where payments technology is ultimately heading.

Investors and payment-industry participants declared the recent partnership between Discover Financial Services and PayPal Inc. a game-changer in payments. But will consumers agree?

It’s called Ventra and it’s going to allow Chicago commuters to make tap-and-go contactless card payments throughout the city’s transit system next summer.

Because Google Inc. stubbed its public relations toe earlier this year when a security firm “hacker” was able to gain access to the Google Wallet’s secure element in a smartphone and steal or wipe out PINs, it was no surprise the company made the leap to store card data in the cloud.

It may not take long for a mobile phone carrier to start looking and acting like a bank for consumers seeking to use their phones to make payments or borrow money.

Global Payments Inc. is banking on a recent acquisition in the health care market and involvement in the Discover Financial Services and PayPal Inc. partnership to help eventually offset a 26% tumble in first quarter income for fiscal 2013 because of the security breach it endured last March.

Teaming up with PayPal is consistent with other Discover Financial Services agreements that stress the card brand’s payments strategy of being “the most flexible partner for a number of other players,” Discover Chairman and CEO David Nelms says.

The telecommunications companies behind the Isis mobile wallet joint venture have had Salt Lake City in their sights as a testing ground for the past year. But recent delays in the Isis rollout have opened the door for direct competitor Google Wallet to continue to gain as much momentum as possible with its mobile pay system.