Technology

Many payments companies are testing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, which has a wider range, and is considered an alternative to, Near Field Communication for executing mobile payments. BLE-based technologies are also being developed for customers to check into stores and for merchants to deliver marketing and loyalty programs. Here are few companies giving BLE and other NFC alternatives a try.

Entertainment and mobile technology company Pimovi has released CamFusion, a mobile app that enables in-app payments for content accessed by wearable computing.

Square's Jack Dorsey sparked a price war over Japanese credit-card transactions with SoftBank Corp.'s Masayoshi Son. Entrepreneurs like Yukiko Kurano are the biggest winners so far.

Software updates have largely resolved the glitches that have marred the rollout of the new Ventra contactless fare system on Chicago's famed "L" trains, and the process of applying the same updates throughout the city's bus fleet will be completed this week, Chicago Transit Authority officials said.

JPMorgan Chase is warning 465,000 holders of prepaid cash cards that their personal information may have been accessed by hackers who attacked the bank's network earlier this year.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency hasn't moved as quickly as it could to address risks posed by large national banks, according to an external review released Thursday.

The unemployment rate fell to 7.0% in November - the lowest mark since November 2008, as more people said they got jobs and joined the labor force. The U.S. economy added a total of 203,000 jobs in the month.

Jennifer Schulz is the new group president of Experian's vertical markets group, which includes the automotive, public sector and healthcare businesses in North America.

Thailand's state-owned telecommunications provider TOT says it will launch a Near Field Communication-based mobile pay service in the country next year.

For Cyriac Roeding, CEO and co-founder of shopkick, the marriage of virtual and physical shopping has never as close as it is now.