David Heun

Bloggers and tech reporters have been quick to give Visa a swift kick in the pants for the failure of a point-of-sale system at London's Wembley Stadium during Olympic soccer matches this week. But Visa says, and Wembley Stadium has acknowledged, that the breakdown at the stadium occurred on a system that Wembley owns and operates.

Long after the 2004 unveiling of the Payment Card Industry data security standard, many merchants remain unaware of it and know little about the threat data thieves pose, says Bill Farmer, CEO of Mako Networks.

Payments security providers and mobile card reader vendors alike will watch with much interest from the sidelines as iZettle AB tries to resolve its restrictions from Visa Europe for processing Visa transactions in the company's core market.

Starting today, the mobile payments company iZettle is saddled with a major restriction in not being able to accept Visa transactions in parts of Europe. Its problem serves as an example to rivals in the U.S. and overseas.

Juan Benitez, the new chief technology officer of Braintree Inc., expects to play a key role in the continued growth of the online and mobile payments provider.

With payments players studying closely every move Apple Inc. makes, reports out July 27 that the computer giant will buy biometrics developer AuthenTec Inc. sparked speculation about the potential payments capabilities of the iPhone 5.

Having Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. reject a proposal for ATMs in the chain’s more than 600 restaurants because modern technology didn’t fit its general-store motif may have been the best thing that could have happened to Supreme ATM.

Rollerblading may not be an Olympic sport, but it will play an important role for Spire Payments as it serves London clients in the Olympic Traffic Exclusion Zone during the summer games.

As various mobile payments companies jockey for position in the growing carrier billing market, Payvia, which was established two months ago, stresses that it has a strong history.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has expanded the global reach of its payment cards while also preparing to provide new technology to clients in the Single Euro Payments Area who will soon deal with far more cross-border payments.

When data security vendor Trustwave introduced its newest software, the mission was fairly clear — help merchants keep abreast of Payment Card Industry data security requirements.

As big companies lock horns to bring mobile wallets to the point of sale, smaller companies are focusing on a different opportunity — improving payments in mobile e-commerce.

Count ATM equipment among the fast-changing technologies in today's payments landscape, as ATM vendors and banks contemplate newer devices that can provide a wider range of services.

Western Union said growth in the Middle East and Asia allowed the company to overcome slowdowns in other countries. Prepaid revenue increased 6% in the second quarter over last year.

Security and compliance are still daunting issues for merchants. Phoenix Managed Networks hopes to ease this pain by offering its network security product to "hundreds of thousands" of merchants through a new partnership with Sysnet Global Solutions.

Developing a mobile wallet for consumers is one thing. Getting those consumers interested and educated about how the wallet works and why they should use phones for payments is an entirely different matter.

The several thousand visitors enjoying Hersheypark this summer can pay for everything they do at the amusement and water park with a flick of the wrist.

PayPal Inc. posted another strong financial performance during the second quarter, driven primarily by continued merchant and consumer adoption, the payments unit of parent eBay Inc. announced July 18.

PayPal's decision to buy its mobile-pay tech partner Card.io sheds light on how the smaller company's technology is shaping the world of mobile payments.

Inaccurate data that finds its way into the global banking payment process creates "hidden costs" of hundreds of thousands of dollars for banks, corporations or large retail businesses.