Technology

Commercial bankruptcy filings slowed this year but are on track to be higher than the annual averages for pre-recession years. Experts say businesses must protect themselves from financially unstable partners.

Bitcoin enthusiasts, playing off the holiday tradition of Black Friday sales, held their own Bitcoin Friday last week, leading to a spike in Bitcoin transactions at some — but not all — participating merchants.

When a natural disaster or other tragedy strikes, the nonprofit sector is a critical force that mobilizes to aid in the recovery effort. And to keep these organizations funded, many of these groups are using payments technologies from providers like mGive and Groupon to connect with donors and more quickly and cost-effectively raise money.

Bank of America is launching a Square-like card-swiping device for smartphones called Mobile Pay on Demand. The service will be marketed through B of A’s Atlanta-based joint venture with First Data, Bank of America Merchant Services.

Banks suffering financial losses from writing off transaction disputes may lessen that blow with new ACI Worldwide Inc. software designed to automate what has been a time-consuming and costly process.

Small retailers still aren’t catching on to the Payment Card Industry data security standards, according to recent survey results.

Expanding its partnership with ChinaPay, Western Union is allowing institutions of higher education and universities to accept student fees and international tuition in the Chinese Renminbi.

Discover Financial Services’ Pulse PIN-debit network has joined the card brand’s EMV migration timetable, establishing requirements for point-of-sale acquirers and processors to handle smart-card payments.

Recently launched Shpock wants to facilitate the buying and selling of products listed online, but the system was designed to deliberately omit payments from the process.

There is no single definition of a “mobile wallet.” Each product differs vastly in its choice of technology, audience and the basic type of payment upon which it was built — but most fit into a few simple categories.