Technology

Visa plans to parlay its investment in Near Field Communication technology in Australia through a venture with the top telcos and numerous handset manufacturers to establish contactless payments.

There has been a flurry of activity in payments technology in recent days. But as the dust settles, it's becoming clear that some of the most disruptive products are coming from outside the payments industry.

Heartland Payment Systems and Tabbedout are developing an integrated mobile payment system for restaurants and bars.

The parent of Alipay.com Co., Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's online payments operator, will pay 1.18 billion yuan ($193 million) for a controlling stake in an asset manager as he expands investment in financial services.

Visa Europe has secured the services of Conferma to provide its issuing banks and payments partners with technology that can provide virtual account numbers for business travel customers.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) plans an electronic voucher program in Lebanon that will enable Syrian refugees to make MasterCard payments.

DataCash and Redecard are providing residents in Brazil with options for making payments with cross-border e-commerce retailers.

WASHINGTON — The quality of syndicated credits took a step backward last year as underwriting of highly leveraged borrowers weakened, regulators said Thursday.

Security can be an expensive, time-consuming investment for small merchants, and most have a mindset that security hacks won't happen to them. But independent sales organizations must take an active role in protecting even the merchants that don't want to be protected.

Dickie Brennan is a New Orleans staple, a local business owner whose family has operated restaurants in the Crescent City for decades. A protégé of legendary chef Paul Prudhomme, Brennan is also an early adopter of a new mobile technology he hopes will change the way people dine out.