Merchant

For a technology still in the midst of evolving, mobile payments attract an overwhelming amount of interest. Competition between payment systems is intense — as the Wall Street Journal recently noted, AngelList’s mobile payments startup roster includes more than 640 players.

New York regulators on Wednesday announced settlements with four companies accused of financing retail installment obligations at usurious rates of interest, ranging up to 55%, for New York consumers who sought financing for elective medical and surgical procedures.

Authorities in Vermont recently unveiled a novel approach to the crackdown on online payday lending: they sent a warning to search-engine providers and TV stations that the lenders use to advertise their products.

A federal judge in Alabama will hear arguments Thursday over a debt collection lawsuit that accuses the city of Montgomery, Ala. of jailing some residents for not paying their debts.

Key decision makers in the payments industry recently gathered for SourceMedia's 2014 Card Forum and Expo. They discussed the trends shaping the industry and their own strategies for surviving the challenges ahead. Here are a few highlights.

Revel Systems is offering a new accessibility bundle for its tablet-based point of sale system.

The Missouri House on Tuesday passed legislation to eliminate renewals on payday loans and lower the amount of interest borrowers can charge.

The total limit of new credit for bank-issued credit cards led origination growth in January, followed by home equity revolving lines and auto lending, according to the latest Equifax National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

Thirty-two million people under age 65 were underinsured in the U.S. in 2012, meaning they had health coverage that provided inadequate protection against high health care costs relative to their income, a Commonwealth Fund report revealed.

Square has launched an order-ahead feature and other services to boost its appeal to brick-and-mortar merchants, but history has shown that merchants can be fickle about which features they'll pay more to use.