Technology

CyberSource, a Visa e-commerce subsidiary, has partnered with Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL), Laos' largest commercial bank, to provide online payment services to merchants.

With the launch of "KitKat," the newest version of Google's Android mobile operating system, Android smartphones get Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities that may break down many of the barriers to hardware-based mobile payments.

Sony Corp. now lets PlayStation 3 owners fund their game and media purchases with PayPal accounts directly from their video game consoles.

Apple, Google, Samsung and others are making changes to the way their phones handle payments. Some of these changes remove restrictions on Near Field Communication payments, whereas others take mobile technology in an entirely different direction.

Moven, a financial services startup, now lets users activate and deactivate debit cards from their smartphones.

Visa Inc. has partnered with Blue Label Mexico to bring electronic payments to hundreds of thousands of small merchants.

As the U.S. adoption of EMV-chip cards encounters legal roadblocks and merchant opposition, critics have questioned whether the card networks' October 2015 deadline is overly aggressive.

Microsoft is attracting interest in multiple countries for its collaboration with FreedomPay, which enables banks and large businesses to use consumer purchasing data for targeted offers.

Despite the surge of emerging payment technologies, consumer behavior is slow to change —giving banks time to adjust.

Mozido LLC is providing a Coca-Cola bottler in Mexico with a mobile payment system for storeowners to use to pay for deliveries of soft drinks.