Technology

The Federal Reserve System released a detailed vision Monday for improving the speed of the U.S. payment system.

The Federal Reserve System released a detailed vision for improving the speed of the U.S. payment system. It is latest step in a process meant to spur change at a time when the country has fallen far behind many nations that have adopted real-time payments.

If consumers, designers and artists led the discussion about how we make payments in the future, they would likely come out with a vastly different system than the one technologists are creating today.

Janell Thompson and Katarina Maloney say choosing the "wrong" name for their company was all it took to run afoul of banks and be labeled as co-owners of a high-risk business.

Like General Motors extending credit to car dealers, Google will use Lending Club to finance resellers, service providers, and consultants in its supply chain while putting to work a portion of the tech giant's cash war chest.

WePay is looking to boost transaction activity among its small business users by offering access to Google Wallet with minimal steps.

The next year will be huge for fraud and security in retail. Most concern around risk management for the year ahead is focussed on system security and fraud management, which is crucial to today's transactions.

Even in an alternative universe that exists only in cyberspace, real money is vital to the economy. Digital payments company Skrill hopes to bridge the real and virtual worlds to benefit its digital wallet.

Starbucks, which handles 16% of its in-store sales as mobile payments, is looking to push that number even higher. Its evolving strategy combines its mobile app, its gift card and its rewards program into a powerful package.

Monitise is pushing aggressively into new markets to build its profile, but mobile financial services' impact on traditional technology development is threatening the company's relevance.