ISO & Agent

Less than three years ago, Visa described a financial institution's request to issue EMV-chip cards as "a unique situation" and "not an everyday query." Times have certainly changed.

American Express has promoted Edward P. Gilligan to the role of president, the company announced April 15.

LevelUp's partnership with Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services could expand the mobile payment system's presence in the Midwest, a region that has received less attention from startups than San Francisco and New York.

Evertec Inc., a significant acquirer processor and card issuer in Latin America and the Caribbean region for 25 years, is casting part of its business as that market's Square Inc. and looking to supercharge its payments business after its April 12 initial public offering.

Canada is now the second country offering consumers MasterCard Inc.'s MasterPass digital wallet, with an emphasis on e-commerce sites for travel, grocery and discount stores.

Elavon and Banco Santander confirmed their plan to launch a joint venture to provide merchant services in Spain.

Bank of America says it and other banks, which have a full view of each customer's financial needs, are well-positioned to succeed as mobile payments providers.

MoonClerk is a new company that's targeting a distinct segment of the payments technology market—the startups and small businesses that want to build a Web payment acceptance engine, but don't have the right tech expertise in-house.

In the four months since buses in London began accepting contactless payments, more than 1 million trips have been paid for with the technology.

Mobile payment provider Payleven is adding two new features to lure larger businesses—the ability to manage multiple chip-and-PIN card readers from a single master account and support for both mobile and stationary printer systems.

The retailer-driven Merchant Customer Exchange mobile payments venture is making a lot of noise, though it has yet to reveal its product. But since the final MCX app will interact with those made by its individual retailers, CVS Caremark Corp. can serve as an early example of the venture's potential.

FamZoo says its bundled prepaid cards and online dashboard work as teaching tools, which can bridge a knowledge gap about payments and budgets, particularly among young people.

The CEO of SignaPay, an Irving, Texas-based acquirer with 14,000 merchants, says he's again taking an active role in the day-to-day business of moving the company forward.

As the Merchant Customer Exchange asserts its position in the mobile wallet market, it emphasizes that the path to a consumer’s physical wallet runs through retailers.

Mobile payment technology at restaurants is gaining favor with wait staff, who find shedding paper leads to quicker orders, faster service and higher gratuities.

San Francisco, Calif.-based startup Balanced says it is gaining traction with online marketplaces, the eBay-like venues where small merchants gather to sell products and services online.

There will be significant growth in mobile payments over the next five years, Javelin Strategy & Research predicts, but most people still don't make payments with their mobile phones today.

Milan-based mobile point-of-sale startup Jusp has secured $6 million in an initial round of funding for its chip-and-PIN mobile card reader, which it plans to launch in Italy.

PXT Payments, which operates the mobile payments and rewards app "looped in," is partnering with Boston College-based startup Jebbit for a student-focused marketing program that combines mobile payments and gaming.

Seattle-based iKaaz LLC figures the best way to make contactless Near Field Communication payments truly mobile is to create a reader that turns mobile phones into point of sale terminals.