Technology

Merchant-level salespeople who use POS Portal Inc. as their point-of-sale equipment distributor now have a mobile-phone tool that enables them to check the availability and wholesale pricing of devices, POS Portal announced Jan. 4.

Punjab & Sind Bank Ltd. has awarded a contract to HCL Infosystems Ltd. to provide smart card technology support for a rural financial-inclusion project, according to a regulatory filing by the state-owned bank.

UniCredit Group has awarded GmbH a three-year contract to supply electronic-payment services for banks in UniCredit’s international banking network, the Germany-based technology provider announced Jan. 17. The contract took effect Jan. 1.

As business lending begins to show some vigor, fainter signs of life have cropped up in other credit categories.

Discover Financial Services' execution of its long-expected "mobile wallet" will define its role in mobile commerce, a future where consumers make contactless payments with their cell phones and receive wireless deals as they enter stores. "Unlike existing mobile technologies that are transactional in nature, the mobile wallet truly facilitates mobile commerce," predicts Gloria Colgan, Discover's svp of emerging payments.

MasterCard Worldwide has hired an executive who has been integral in French wireless carrier Orange’s rollout of mobile-payment services, according to an online report by NFC Times.

Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, for the first time is extending health care payment services to Puerto Rico through an arrangement with Paytech Corp., a Puerto Rico-based e-commerce transaction processor, the two companies announced Jan. 13.

Fleet card provider and processor Wright Express Corp., which over the past few years has focused on building an international presence, is setting its sights on new regional opportunities, including Latin America, Mike Dubyak, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, tells PaymentsSource.

Verifi Inc., which provides risk-management services for card-not-present merchants, has formed a partnership with Demandware Inc. to provide online merchants with fraud-prevention and risk-management services, Verifi announced Jan. 12.

First Data Corp.’s decision to consolidate its merchant and card-issuer processing operations could help the payments company trim costs and better seize opportunities stemming from pending debit card regulation, analysts said Jan. 13.