David Heun

From a historical perspective, payments industry observers know a few things about Apple Inc. It’s not knowing the company’s future plans that have them edgy.

It might not be fair to describe the mobile-payment initiatives in Europe as taking on a “monkey-see, monkey-do” mentality because, after all, competing projects are announced on a regular basis in the U.S. as well.

If a Qualified Security Assessor tests–and passes–a business for payments security compliance, that business may feel it could rest on its laurels.

For years, the payments industry has been waiting for Apple to disrupt the market with a payment-capable iPhone. Some are finally getting sick of the wait.

Consumers may not be pushing for stronger card security because they feel overly protected by the systems in use today. But they do face real costs for fraud.

Preparing systems for the Single Euro Payments Area may be more complex and time-consuming than many European corporations and banks realize. To ease this complexity, SunGard is offering software to centralize payments management.

Mobile devices can be used to add a second factor of authentication for bank accounts, but they can also be an easy factor for fraudsters to misuse.

Nearly all smartphone users in Sweden will soon have access to a mobile payment service called MyWallet if their phones support it.

Deutsche Telekom AG's announcement July 2 of a mobile payments partnership with MasterCard highlights the opportunities for issuers in mobile wallets being developed worldwide, including in the U.S.

When Joe Randazza first began filing National Payment Card Association patents seven years ago for decoupled debit products and processes, he admits he "didn't have the vision to foresee a future with smartphones."

To hear Dan Wagner tell it, one would think the CEO of London-based mPowa was ready to enter the ring for a prizefight against all comers in the world of mobile card-based payments.

Almost a year ago, the telecommunications companies backing the Isis mobile wallet venture were clear that they would rely on Near Field Communication. But as technology advances, there may be wisdom in adopting an alternative.

Merchants may feel overwhelmed at the abundance of new payment technologies, and they are understandably worried about investing in the wrong one. Terminal vendors are hoping to address those fears.

When Global Payments last March revealed it had suffered a data breach, executives at tokenization vendor Protegrity began what amounted to a verbal campaign calling for fraud liability to shift to processors. Elavon must have thought Protegrity was onto something.

For small merchants, the annual compliance questionnaire for the PCI Standard has become increasingly complex. First Data hopes to make the process simple again by using technology.

Banks should be in the forefront of a payments world moving toward mobile commerce, according to Monitise CEO Alastair Lukies.

Monitise PLC officially completed its acquisition of Clairmail Inc. on June 26, the mobile banking and payments providers announced.

That the card brands and security vendors increased their number of technology patent filings in the wake of a major credit card data breach in 2007 is no coincidence.

Each day, the payments industry receives signals that consumers are happier using a contactless card system to pay transit fares than they are using the cards in stores.

Somehow, the developers of O2's mobile wallet found a small village in Wales that did not have even one cash machine available for its 11,000 residents. O2 gave the village a "money makeover."