Technology

Following the devastating tornado that struck Moore, Okla., organizations involved in the rescue and recovery efforts are relying on mobile payments technology to accept text message-based donations from the public.

Google Checkout, the online payment service launched in 2006 and combined with Google Wallet in 2011, will shut down for good on November 20.

Licensed gun dealers are finding it increasingly hard to accept card-not-present credit card or debit card transactions, but companies such as Tasker Payment Gateways are not gun-shy when it comes to serving the firearms industry.

Many merchants are still wary about accepting bitcoins, but new vendor partnerships and a maturation of the companies that handle bitcoin exchanges address some of the virtual currency's riskier aspects.

A person-to-person payment method called Square Cash has surfaced on Square's website, less than a week after Google announced similar capabilities through Gmail and Google Wallet accounts.

NCR Corp. is integrating SCVNGR's LevelUp mobile payment system with its Aloha POS system for restaurants.

While many still see Bitcoin as an unrealistic payment method, venture capitalists say there are clear use cases for the decentralized cryptocurrency in micropayments, international remittance and charity.

Consumer spending is expected to accelerate this year, while government spending declines at a faster rate, according to the results of a late-April survey of 49 business economists.

Some consumers in London reportedly experienced problems with the contactless payment system U.K. retail giant Marks & Spencer recently expanded into all of its 644 stores.

MasterCard is part of a joint venture that will launch the Zuum mobile payments service this month. The venture is touting Zuum as the first service of its kind in Brazil.