Evan Schuman

MasterCard's decision to do a 500-person trial of facial recognition for payment authentication next month may seem like a bold move in security, but it's really taking aim at friction.

Lloyds Bank is exploring a way to use Near Field Communication to authenticate shoppers, but in a twist, it is using the mobile phones to receive – rather than send – the NFC signal.

Most merchants are trying to eliminate the barriers between their online and physical storefronts, yet the U.K. retailer John Lewis has put a small but meaningful barrier between these two channels.

Alibaba is reportedly upping its game in India, on the heels of its half-billion-dollar investment in Paytm in May.

Consumers in China are making more purchases online than in-store, prompting the country's retailers to support payment options that are normally associated with e-commerce.

A new version of Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) guidelines to be published by the PCI Council today will allow retailers—for the first time—to be able to create and seek certification for their own P2PE system, addressing a longstanding retailer concern about the earlier rules locking them into certain vendor relationships.

Although it's been widely suspected that merchant EMV compliance will be low in October when the liability shift deadline kicks in, a new Javelin Strategy & Research report is projecting as many as 75% of all merchants will not make the deadline.

As mobile payments fuel financial services in countries where traditional banking infrastructure is underwhelming, many in the payments world applaud.

Apple realizes that retailers are uniquely well-positioned to encourage mobile payments adoption. That's why the company's decision to start accepting retailer loyalty cards on Apple Pay before launching a loyalty program of its own makes good sense.

What good is having a mobile point of sale (mPOS) device if retailers glue it to the countertop? In a new IHL report that tries to size up the mPOS market, IHL points out that most merchants are happy to ignore the mobility inherent in their new technology.

The most striking thing about Apple Pay's recent loyalty announcement is that it included no loyalty program for Apple Pay.

The nature of fraud in the U.S. is about to change radically, as fraudsters adapt to EMV security at the point of sale by shifting their attention to e-commerce channels. Accompanying this shift are changes to the consumer's role in spotting fraud — but this could be as much a burden as it is a benefit if banks and merchants are not careful.

As Apple Pay grows, the security of Apple's mobile devices becomes more critical. With fingerprint identification built into every new iPhone built since 2013, why is Apple now strengthening its rules for PIN authentication?

Square's partnership with Apple to enable small merchants to accept Apple Pay is just one blip in Apple's overall strategy, but for Square it's a fundamental rethinking of its approach to its audience.

Apple Pay's launch was seen as so bank-focused that some retailers griped or outright rebelled against the Apple mobile wallet. But today, Apple made a major peace offering to the merchant community — and it's working with Square to make that happen.

IHL, which tracks retail payment trends, has slammed EMV in a recent report, calling it "a colossal waste of time, effort and capital to the retail industry."

There have been various media reports about some of the security shortcomings within Apple Pay. The shortcomings are not security holes per se, in the sense that a hole is generally unintended. No, the security issues were deliberate, done with the goal of making signups and initial usage as easy as possible for shoppers.

As cards include more embedded technology, issuers and manufacturers face the tough question of how much card power to sacrifice for stronger fraud protection.

Traditional assumptions about how demographic groups adopt digital channels are fading as comfort with new technology becomes common, according to new research from payment processor Total System Services (TSYS).

Payments security researchers today find themselves in an awkward position and it's retailers who have put them there.