Merchant

Banks are partnering with tech companies to win back some of the small-business customers that the industry lost to fintechs.

Financial services companies such as PayPal, Lydia and RBC are testing chatbots on platforms such as Slack and Facebook Messenger.

The payments industry has been overrun with innovation in mobile, wearable and cloud-based digital payments. But many niches are years — if not decades — behind this trend.

As more payment and financial services companies use the app store, there's vulnerability to new cyber attacks that try to take advantage.

Payment companies like Braintree and the card brands have opened up their technology to external developers. The next generation of merchant apps will require even more flexibility and speed.

The mobile point of sale company's partnership with the coffee chain was designed to bring Square's mobile payments technology into Starbucks locations. But the partnership didn't pan out and ended a couple of years ago.

Jennifer Miles will join Ingenico later this year to help the company's North American expansion and mobile point of sale efforts.

Contextual commerce is the next big thing in retail as the payments transaction slides to the background. But it relies on building sophisticated consumer relationships.

Using big data can help credit unions better understand which delinquent members have the assets to repay accounts in collections, saving CUs time and effort, and increasing the likelihood of repayment.

Mastercard is adding a new perk for elite customers by extending free airport and in-flight WiFi around the world for customers with certain cards targeting high-end global travelers.