Merchant

Without congressional help, the 7(a) program could be forced to shut down for the second time in three years.

Consumers are increasingly positive about loyalty programs, mobile ads, chatbots and making a purchase from a smartphone, despite an early resistance to changing their payment habits when mobile wallets debuted years ago.

It's well accepted that the earliest version of 3-D Secure was off-putting to merchants and consumers who didn't like how it added friction to the checkout process in the interest of online security. The new version of 3-D Secure wants to avoid the same pitfall, and merchants are cautiously optimistic.

Business still use lots of checks for payments. That may have worked in the past, but it likely won't work in an increasingly digital future.

As merchants seek out better ways to defend themselves from rampant online fraud, some are pinning their hopes on a recent upgrade to the card brands’ 3-D Secure Authentication technology.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered closer scrutiny of a New York law that bars merchants from imposing surcharges on credit card purchases, giving a group of retailers a partial victory by saying the measure might violate their free-speech rights.

U.S. restaurants' EMV migration has lagged behind other retail categories for several reasons, including the hassles of replacing centralized payment systems with pay-at-the-table routines that chip cards often require. But another reason: Restaurateurs have other priorities.

Square Inc. is rolling out mobile payment services in the U.K., marking its biggest global expansion in a push to boost growth while the U.S. market nears saturation.

Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to buy Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com, betting that e-commerce in the Middle East is poised to take off.

With AmazonFresh Pickup, a brick-and-mortar extension of its grocery delivery services, Amazon is edging further into the crowded grocery market with a model that downplays the process of wandering the aisles of a physical store. But unlike some of Amazon's other retail efforts, this one is not as big a departure as it first seems.