Technology

Tyfone Inc. has received $5 million in financing from HDFC Holdings Ltd., Polaris Software Labe and Ojas Venture Partners, the provider of mobile-banking and mobile contactless-payment technology announced Sept. 7.

The mobile banking train hasn’t left the station yet, but time is running low to be considered an early adopter before the service becomes ubiquitous among banks. In the case of Bank of the West, which introduced its new mobile platform in late August, now’s the time to jump in as more banks will likely view mobile as a must-have in the near future.

A prepaid card company is trying to drive down fraud with an application that replaces plastic cards with virtual accounts that users access with mobile phones.

Only acquiring banks and the largest ISOs have to file formal written plans with the card brands to explain how they intend to bring the nation’s 5 million small retailers, restaurateurs and other mom-and-pop businesses into compliance with Payment Card Industry data security standards. But everybody in the credit and debit card “food chain” feels the sometimes-unpleasant effects of those plans.

VeriFone Systems Inc.’s $9 million deal this week to buy mobile point-of-sale terminal maker Way Systems Inc. is not surprising to analysts who follow the POS device industry (see story).

Consumers are willing to purchase high-ticket items such as concert tickets through mobile-payment services, although many are dissatisfied with the process, according to a survey Netsize NA released this month.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. on Sept. 1 announced it has entered a $5 million agreement with Discover Financial Services to settle claims stemming from the 2008 security breach of the Princeton, N.J.-based company’s processing systems.

Interchange-fee costs are the top concern among merchants, acquirers and processors that primarily handle card-not-present transactions, new survey data suggest.

Experts say Android is the hottest smartphone for mobile banking, but when it comes to payments, the Seattle coffee retailer hopes there is still a big opportunity in the increasingly neglected BlackBerry.

Virtual gift card provider Giftango Corp. on Sept. 1 released a software-development kit that enables mobile-phone application companies to develop gift card products consumers may use at the point of sale or redeem online.