John Adams

Google wants to buy the telco-led mobile payments consortium Softcard, according to the technology news site TechCrunch, which cited unnamed sources.

Merchant acquirers can learn a lot from their new competitors about how to stand out in a crowd where everybody appears to be the same.

PayPal is revamping its lineup of mobile point of sale offerings, expanding developer tools and adding EMV in the U.S. But its new support for Microsoft devices may have the most impact as it pursues merchants that can already get payment capabilities elsewhere.

Education payments company peerTransfer has grown quickly by providing a specialized service to a specific market, but it may be time for it graduate to new lines of business.

The uses for prepaid cards are expanding, creating fresh opportunities for financial institutions that may have earlier dismissed the product as a tool for the unbanked, said Michael Fiore, who becomes MasterCard's group executive of global prepaid solutions on Jan. 15.

While many agree that usernames and passwords should give way to more advanced identity management, progress toward this goal has been extremely slow.

The telco-led mobile wallet venture Softcard has laid off 60 employees and is consolidating its offices, a sign that the company's staffing may have been oversized compared to its opportunities in the market.

PayPal is enabling monthly installment for larger purchases and offering business consulting, a move that will allow the company to handle larger transactions and extend its merchant services.

UniRush is feeding its appetite for the payroll card business by acquiring rapid! PayCard from WEX.

French payment companies are stepping up the use technology that can spot certain types of card fraud that are not prevented by EMV-chip security.

Traditional merchant acquirers have faced disruption from a number of new entrants in recent years from companies such as Square and its peers. And now, a football team is getting into the game.

Apple's reputation as a negotiator is rather simple—it doesn't negotiate. But Strategic Resource Management, a negotiation company with 200 clients in financial services, contends issuers and merchants have a chance to win more favorable terms with Apple.

High-tech cards have struggled to gain traction as a distinct, offline — and often expensive — consumer gadget for storing and protecting multiple payment accounts. But the pervasiveness of Internet access points and Internet-connected devices could give some of these gadgets fresh appeal.

Tablet-based point of sale and other integrated payment systems are advancing quickly, but there are some obstacles in the road to domination—particularly for providers that didn't plan ahead for EMV-chip cards in the U.S.

As a consortium of banks and mobile networks in New Zealand puts the finishing touches on its mobile wallet system, the group chose a technology "hub" model to ensure that it can adapt to the fast-changing movements in the payments industry.

As computing devices get closer to the body and more Internet-connected, payment platforms will have to be flexible enough to work in a vast number of environments, according to PayPal's Joel Yarbrough.

One of the challenges WePay faces in handling fundraising payments is the lack of visibility into when a given fundraising event will result in a spike of payment volume that is beyond what the vendor can typically handle.

Imagine a future where we access accounts or pay for groceries using a bracelet, a wristwatch or even a temporary tattoo. Disney's MagicBand provides a glimpse of what's possible for wearable devices.

• Cool Wearable Devices to Try Out
• How Many Wearable Devices Are There?

Visa and MasterCard halted services in Crimea after a new round of U.S. sanctions, according to multiple reports.

Visa and MasterCard halted services in Crimea after a new round of U.S. sanctions, according to multiple reports.