Merchant

The Chicago company will close 19 branches and eliminate 150 jobs, partially reflecting changing customer preferences.

Development is happening in places besides London and Silicon Valley, and that will give payment companies and financial institutions a wider range of technology solutions and partners, according to Aidan Hayes, senior vice president of financial services and technology for Enterprise Ireland.

The company said the move would help it become more efficient at a time when clients are making greater use of digital channels.

E-commerce payment fraud losses are mounting, giving merchants the opportunity to dump responsibility on their technology partners, but there's no surefire way to totally offload the financial hit.

With the use of global standards, merchants can also strengthen and consolidate their relationships with vendors and minimize expenditure on hardware and software solutions and maintenance, writes Normand Provost, liaison chair of Nexo.

Deadlines imposed by U.S. and EU regulators are giving banks intercontinental whiplash.

Businesses are already entering partnerships with some of the biggest players in the Chinese payments market, such as AliPay, and WeChat Pay, with the goal of offering tourists the ease of payments that they are accustomed to, writes Igal Rotem, CEO of Credorax.

For Whole Foods, the potential to tap into the sheer volume of new customers via the Amazon Prime premium loyalty program is unprecedented, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

PayPal has agreed to acquire iZettle—often called the Square of Europe—in a move that could blunt Square’s prospects in key markets.

Watermark Bank would focus on business banking and entrepreneurs, with technology and concierge services designed to target those customers.