Technology

There is lots of talk about mobile payments and where banks play, but the real opportunity has less to do with payments and more to do with “mobile commerce services," or all of those things banks (and merchants) can do via mobile to attract, engage, motivate and reinforce customer relationships to protect existing revenue streams and create new ones.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., startup wants to eliminate fees long hated by ATM customers and replace the lost income with revenue from ads that play on teller-machine screens. Yet questions have been raised about whether that is easier said than done.

MasterCard has emphasized prepaid cards to replace cash as a first step to extend financial services to the underbanked, and is adding mobile technology to add more services to its financial inclusion initiative.

American Express Global Payments is adding cloud-based software from Intacct, a move that can make it easier to automate corporate payments, which still include paper-based processes.

Mocapay and Merchant Link are partnering to offer a bundle of mobile payments services that includes data-driven security and loyalty programs, both areas that have held back merchant uptake in the past.

Mobile point of sale technology is gaining traction, though providers say the middle market requires a stronger sell.

Security passwords that have become common for e-commerce transactions and financial accounts translate poorly to mobile devices, fueling consumers' bad habits regarding weak or reused passwords.

New York’s top banking regulator Benjamin Lawsky, who used his leverage to stiffen penalties against some of the world’s largest financial institutions and also instituted policies friendly to payments startups, will probably step down next year to take a job in the private sector, said a person familiar with the matter.

This is an exciting time to be in the payments industry. The U.S. deadline for the EMV chip-and-PIN migration is officially less than one year away, and Apple Pay recently became available to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users.

Nacha CEO Janet Estep discusses how her organization polices bad actors on the automated clearing house network, why it doesn't single out specific merchant categories as risky, and how nudging the industry toward "push" payments will help.