Merchant

It's hard to build and maintain a false persona on social networks, and that's what makes sites like Facebook and Twitter such useful tools for controlling risk, says John Canfield, WePay's new vice president of risk management.

Airlines and payment companies have not traditionally targeted small businesses for travel rewards, but Chase Paymentech and United Airlines hope that by making business-related purchases easier to manage, small businesses will seek out airline miles programs.

Mobile payments provider Fortumo Ltd. landed a major European carrier-billing deal last week, less than a month after revealing a significant partnership with Microsoft for mobile payment development on Windows phones.

With a data breach dispute between Visa Inc. and Nashville-based retailer Genesco Inc. heading toward a July 2014 trial, Visa lawyers are asking a federal judge to dismiss some claims in a lawsuit Genesco filed against the card brand.

DataCash, a MasterCard payments processing subsidiary, and Redecard will partner to sell electronic commerce products to merchants in Brazil.

LevelUp has made constant changes to its mobile-payments technology as it has aggressively spread its system to new consumers and merchants alike. Today, it is in the process of eliminating issues by replacing its older systems and is promoting a white-label app to appeal to more merchants.

CardSpring and VeriFone Systems Inc. allow consumers' credit and debit cards to act as loyalty cards for redeeming digital coupons.

Visa issuers have put 3.5 million chip-based smart cards in the hands of U.S. consumers since the card brand announced its EMV-card migration roadmap in August of 2011, a Visa executive says.

Starbucks attributes the widespread use of its mobile payments app to a "seismic change" in how consumers use mobile phones and social media. The company expects a further surge in adoption as its rewards system expands to grocery stores.

Payleven's EMV-chip mobile card reader has found a spot on Apple Inc.'s retail shelves in Europe and on the company's website.