Technology

Banks are still debating the use of two-factor authentication for account access, even though hackers are getting more cunning and the tech bellwether Google Inc. just endorsed the extra layer of security.

Green Dot Corp. and banks probably could use each other’s help more than ever.

Until a few years ago, payment card processors and merchant acquirers found it relatively easy to incorporate biannual April and October updates of interchange-rate tables and other mandates from the payment networks into their systems.

The U.S. is closer to EMV readiness than many realize, and it may not cost as much as previously feared, suggests a newly crafted “roadmap” to U.S. adoption of EMV chip-and-PIN technology.

With the law of supply and demand at work - more buyers chasing fewer deals - debt buyers continue to see portfolio prices remain stubbornly high, regardless of the age of the debt.

Global Payments Inc. has promoted James R. Hicks to president of its Global Payments Asia Pacific Ltd. unit, where he will oversee the merchant processor’s payment operations in 11 Asian countries, the Atlanta-based company announced Feb. 11.

Cineplex Entertainment, which supports 132 theaters in Canada serving more than 70 million visitors each year, is giving consumers the option to pay for tickets from their PayPal account, the Toronto-based company announced Feb. 11.

This story has been updated.

The Chicago credit bureau TransUnion LLC has introduced two scores designed to help debt collectors target consumers who are most likely to make payments.

MasterCard Worldwide launched a beta version of its developer’s portal early last month, but the card brand has invited only about 1,000 programmers to participate, a MasterCard spokesperson said Feb. 10.