David Heun

Merchants that want to use technology to boost sales can establish in-house systems labs to test new payment technology and apps, or find an external lab to do so.

Two factions that have taken on the card networks on separate fronts are combining their might in the latest effort to pressure Visa and Mastercard. Even so, there is not a lot of reason for the credit card brands to change their methods.

Consumers using Paysafe's prepaid cards can now make online purchases in the Google Play store as part of a partnership with Google.

Retailer associations and debit network providers have formed the Secure Payments Partnership, designed to address the ongoing problem of payment fraud.

Google's mobile wallet has gone through several iterations, but the most recent — Google Pay — signals a significant turning point for the company's mobile wallet strategy.

Interaction with the provider, or extra hand-holding, is becoming less common in an advancing digital payments age for e-retailers.

Cereal is looking at the aspects of the market that could be considered the most stable. By encouraging more mining activity, Cereal also promotes the viability of the cryptocurrencies being mined.

For some, the fast pace of change in payments technology needs to slow down for consumers and merchants to catch up. For others, the technology must evolve because it is the consumer and merchant seeking change — all in the name of an easier, mobile experience.

Payment gateway provider Pelican Group has launched PelicanPay, a new unit of the company, to focus on providing European-wide Payment Services Directive connectivity, payments and financial crime compliance services.

In an advancing digital age, banks and merchants rarely question the data that advanced analytics and artificial intelligence can provide about their customers' financial and payments habits. But are they using data analytics to its fullest potential?

The companies have built a product that attempts to beat the current standard of next or same day settlement.

American Express is putting its involvement in the Hyperledger Project to the test, deploying blockchain technology with Boxed to enable the digital warehouse merchant to customize a rewards plan for Amex cardholders.

Merchants and issuers have to step up efforts to slow down the flood of chargebacks, which in many cases could be thwarted by better communication between the two and the consumer.

Retail and hospitality payments software provider Veea Inc. is partnering with cross-border mobile payments provider Citcon to allow businesses using Veea services in the U.S. to accept Alipay and WeChat Pay mobile payments.

Plate IQ has integrated its automated accounts payable technology for restaurants with the new Square for Restaurants point-of-sale system.

Chase will have its place on the BigCommerce platform soon, as retailers will be able to accept Chase Pay on their online stores this summer.

Within sports venues, providers want to handle payments and integrate loyalty and other services through every facet of the ballpark and teams operating those facilities.

It's a race to the finish line that also affects U.S. companies with European customers. In these final moments, every company must at least show good faith in attempting to follow the law and having procedures and technology in place to do so.

Many technology developers yearn to invent the future of payments through software, but Toast is also reaching to the past by trying to perfect the hardware that surrounds the new digital tools.

China hasn't exactly opened its arms wide to embrace U.S. payments companies, but the nation has gradually become more accepting of the foreign payments businesses that view its tech-savvy population as a lucrative market.