Will Hernandez

To help small, independent retail chains gain more loyal customers, a United Kingdom-based electronic payments provider is introducing a loyalty scheme that involves a contactless card.

Citing an increased use in smartphones, the Arkansas state government earlier this month launched a mobile Web site that enables residents to use their phones to pay for certain government services.

A Las Vegas company called Paragon Dynamix LLC has developed a system that can help people build a credit history by reporting recurring monthly payments initiated with general-purpose reloadable cards to the three major credit bureaus.

The Federal Reserve Board has issued a set of final rules regarding the fees that prepaid card companies can impose for certain prepaid products.

Chevron Corp. has launched an educational campaign to explain why banks routinely authorize debit transactions at gas stations that are much larger than the actual sale.

Consumers and businesses are expected to load as much as $186 billion onto prepaid cards in 2014, according to a report released last week, but uncertainty about future government regulations could hamper sustained market growth.

On Friday Green Dot announced plans for an IPO that could raise as much as $150 million, a move that could possibly position the prepaid card company for acquisitions.

On Friday Green Dot announced plans for an IPO that could raise as much as $150 million, a move that could possibly position the prepaid card company for acquisitions.

Two online payments companies have developed applications to facilitate purchases on Facebook Inc.'s popular social networking Web site.

Hoping to differentiate its product, Whitebox Partners LLC has developed a reloadable prepaid card with a rewards program, a feature usually associated with credit and debit cards.

HomeATM ePayment Solutions is shifting its focus to portable card readers that can be used with mobile phones.

Acculynk Inc.'s chief executive, Ashish Bahl, spent much of last year introducing his company's PaySecure Internet PIN-debit system to merchants, processors and debit networks.

NYCE Payments Network LLC Monday officially joined the alternative-payments space when it announced a partnership with CardinalCommerce Corp. to offer its SafeDebit Internet-debit product to online merchants. NYCE believes SafeDebit addresses consumers’ concerns about the safety of purchasing goods and services online, though some observers say the companies still face the difficult task of marketing the product.

Prepaid card companies are developing rewards programs that let their cobrand partners build relationships with consumers who use their products.

Most industry reports say sales of gift cards will decline during the holiday season, but some observers expect gift card sales to increase, largely because retailers are stocking less merchandise than last year.

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To better compete against alternative systems that have taken a bite from their interchange revenue, some financial companies are now testing noncard payment services.

First Data Corp. could expand consumers' options for adding funds to their general-purpose prepaid debit cards by equipping its Star electronic funds transfer network to function also as a reload network.

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A group of payments industry executives and analysts have teamed up to create a trade group focused on promoting security efforts for online debit transactions and mobile payments.