Kate Fitzgerald

Mobile and digital technology are expanding use cases for reloadable prepaid cards beyond their heritage as a tool primarily for the unbanked consumers. Furthermore, mobile commerce is driving broader acceptance of digital versions of both prepaid and retail gift cards.

Nets will bring its payments technology reach into Poland through its $85 million acquisition of Dotpay/eCard.

Longtime Starbucks boss Howard Schultz was so invested in the company's mobile payments strategy that he once stepped down from his day-to-day duties to focus his full attention on the tech initiative. Without his involvement, will Starbucks lose its edge in fintech?

Visa has moved to cut its debit transaction fees in India by 95%, bringing it more in line with RuPay, India’s state-run domestic debit scheme.

Wirecard has created a blockchain-based B2B application to streamline payments for merchants buying raw materials like coffee, crude oil and steel.

Brick-and-mortar stores are rapidly adding self-checkout options usually linked to proprietary mobile apps, giving merchants more control over how payment options are presented.

HSBC worked with Maritz marketing to tap AI to predict which categories of rewards—travel, merchandise, gift cards or dining—consumers were most likely to use, factoring in their seasonal tendencies and past behavior.

New Jersey’s commuter rail and bus system is joining the movement to add contactless payment options for commuters, which observers say could spark broader adoption of mobile payments across the U.S.

Mastercard's Cardless ATM service, developed with Diebold Nixdorf, resembles the technology many banks have adopted in the last few years — but Mastercard's offering sheds the limitation of being tied to a specific bank's ATMs.

TSYS has purchased iMobile3, a maker of private-label payment solutions for small businesses, to beef up merchants' capabilities through the point of sale.

Comdata has been processing corporate payments for almost 50 years, paying truck drivers through a proprietary fuel card network. But its next chapter could be its toughest.

Mastercard is working with Starling Bank as its strategic partner to settle funds sent within the U.K. through its Mastercard Send service.

Geoswift has launched an inbound P2P money transfer service in China — offering the flip side of its core services supporting tuition and other corporate payments for Chinese students, workers and tourists who are outside of their home country.

Mastercard is launching AI Express, a service to help companies develop and deploy tailored payment solutions leveraging artificial intelligence.

Denmark-based Nets is merging with Concardis Payment Group, a leading merchant payment service provider in German-speaking regions of Europe.

Intuit has added new features to QuickBooks Payroll so employers can make payroll at the last minute, delivering same-day paychecks to workers with the option to make direct deposits to contract employees.

Virtual reality is seeing significant leaps in technology, with immediate applications to gaming and entertainment that foreshadow richer applications for VR in commerce.

Wirecard and Enio, an Austria-based supplier of electric car charging stations throughout Europe, are collaborating to enable contactless payments at thousands of sites.

A direct correlation between the chip migration and rampant merchant data breaches is hard to prove. But experts say retailers' prioritization of EMV compliance contributed to other payment card security gaps, leading to the current high level of merchant data breaches.

Visa has put its marketing and advertising featuring actor Morgan Freeman on hold following allegations of inappropriate behavior.