Investment

More than two-thirds of all U.S.-issued MasterCard consumer credit cards are now chip-enabled and the number of merchants accepting EMV transactions continues to climb, MasterCard said March 31.

Mobile wallets and related technologies are starting to look very different. Whether they are absorbed into other mobile offerings or removed from the phone altogether, these systems are looking less and less like the old-fashioned billfolds they replace.

An 11-page paper by the agency signaled its intent to take a higher-profile role in ensuring that regulators are not inappropriately hampering banks' adoption of new technologies to reach customers, while also keeping an eye out that institutions are able to handle the risks involved.

Despite email filters and training programs, bank customers still click on fake emails and malicious links at an alarming rate. Newer technologies and methods hold promise for getting phishing under control.

A white paper released Thursday said the agency might issue new guidance on fintech product development, third-party risk management and new products targeting the underbanked; streamline its licensing procedures; and appoint experts on "responsible innovation." It is still deciding whether to open an office dedicated to monitoring the fintech sector.

Some debit card users are so loyal to their cards that many would go so far as to say using a PIN is more convenient — and less secure — than a using a signature, according to a recent report from Auriemma Consulting Group.

BMO is betting that newly popular biometric authentication options can solve an age-old problem—the headaches business travelers face when managing smaller expenses.

In the coming years, biometrics will be the leading security metric to protect payment systems, but a single ultra-hack could derail this progression permanently.

EBay has become a member of the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance, making it the first e-commerce company to achieve FIDO certification.

The attention around tokenization — replacing static account numbers with a one-time-use token — has been good for security but worrying for businesses that rely on a static identifier for future reference.