Fintech

MasterCard continues to ride the plastic wave in worldwide payments. The Purchase, N.Y., company on Jan. 31 reported fourth-quarter net income of $605 million, driven in large part by growing use of its credit and debit cards outside of the United States.

The Merchant Advisory Group is calling for a shift in deadlines for EMV acceptance in the U.S. — one extra month for every month the payments industry fails to find a common code for handling EMV debit transactions.

Numerous merchants don't realize their systems accept Discover, prompting the network to visit their stores in person to ask that the retailers stop turning down its cards.

ACI Worldwide and Fidelity National Information Services each announced acquisitions of companies that provide payments technology.

MasterCard Inc., the second-biggest U.S. payments network, posted fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as customers made more purchases.

Boston-based independent sales organization Merchant Warehouse is launching its Genius payment acceptance product for general availability. The system has been in testing since June 2012.

The council announced Jan. 31 its guidelines for e-commerce data safety. The information is a result of research completed by the council's e-commerce security special interest group.

Visa shareholders rejected a proposal Wednesday that would have required the nation’s largest card network to disclose publicly more information about its lobbying activities, according to the activist shareholder group behind the measure.

A German mobile network operator and a bank's digital technology unit will soon introduce a smartphone-based digital wallet and person-to-person money transfer system.

American Express Co. finds itself swirling in the middle of anti-trust litigation and proposed settlements that the company isn't directly a party to.