U.K.

As technology evolves, payment capabilities become more deeply embedded, becoming practically invisible to the end user. This concept works already in specific use cases such as Uber, and many companies have yearned to implement a hands-free payment experience for all of retail.

Citing the need to expand Transatlantic commerce, U.K. and U.S. officials have agreed to create a payments forum featuring leaders from the tech hubs of London and Atlanta.

U.K.-based Rambus Ecebs, a provider of mass-transit ticketing technology, is harnessing Host Card Emulation (HCE) for its new service supporting a virtual ticketing app that can replace physical transit cards.

For much of the past few years, U.K. railroad systems have been using smartphones to display tickets as bar codes or other forms of digital fares.

U.K. supermarket giant Tesco has long supported Apple Pay at its contactless-enabled checkout locations, and now it also supports mobile payments through a proprietary app it’s rolled out to its nearly 7,000 stores.

Lloyds Banking Group was hit by a cyber attack that disrupted online services for customers two weeks ago, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

While the true impacts of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union are still unknown, there are a number of factors that will pressure payments innovation.

Mastercard’s $920 million acquisition of VocaLink hasn’t cleared all the regulatory hurdles yet, but it’s closer to the finish line now that the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said it will consider a strategic solution Mastercard has proposed to offset potential threats to competition.

The Financial Conduct Authority has given the green light to Geoswift, the Hong Kong-based cross-border payments company, to operate collection and settlement services between the U.K. and China.

Mastercard Inc. preyed on more than 46 million unknowing consumers by unfairly charging card fees over a 16-year period, lawyers seeking to bring a 14 billion-pound ($17.2 billion) class-action lawsuit told a London court.