Acquirers

First Data has a number of payments initiatives planned for the next year in Brazil, where the mix of mobile and card adoption suggests big potential for electronic card payments.

By adding data analytics to its Square Register platform, Square Inc. says it is giving merchants of all sizes the kind of tools that larger retailers use to increase sales.

Square won't require users of its $99 Square Stand to replace their hardware when they are ready to accept EMV-chip cards. Instead, the vendor will support EMV cards through the hardware's included USB hub.

SumUp is preparing to bring its mobile point of sale device to a number of new countries, and hopes its practice of developing its technology in-house will help it contain the costs of chip and PIN card payments.

Square Inc. has received an investment from Victory Park Capital that it says will allow the company to significantly expand its Square Capital business financing program.

The pieces for a robust digital payments market in India are in place, and are waiting for a merchant-friendly catalyst, says Srinivas Nidugondi, head of mobile financial solutions at Mahindra Comviva, which is partnering with First Data to offer a mobile point of sale product in India.

Tanjarine is looking to improve card security in restaurant payments as it deploys a tablet-based system that is also meant to improve the customer experience.

Square is under pressure to adapt to the onslaught of competition from the likes of Amazon, PayPal, Groupon and Fiserv, all of which have applied their own spin to the mobile card reader concept. Square has recently made a number of moves to improve its offerings and its image.

Using the format of a Top 10 list, Square Inc. attempted to set the record straight on various perceptions of its business that it insists "are totally bogus."

Heartland Payment Systems has purchased the mobile point of sale vendor Leaf to improve its capabilities for small businesses.

Square, which has been scrambling to add fee-based services to pad the revenue it gets from mobile payments, faces a formidable new challenge in Amazon's launch of a rival mobile card reader.

Amazon.com Inc. has launched a Square-like mobile card reader called Amazon Local Register, charging early adopters just 1.75% per swipe until the end of 2015.

Square recently ended a plastic card project out of concerns it would cause friction with the payment company's financial partners, according to Fast Company.

Square Appointments, the company's latest fee-based product, is the first in its lineup that can be used by merchants who do not also use Square to accept payments.

Square is the latest technology company to launch a "bug bounty" program, which rewards volunteer hackers for finding security flaws and bringing them to Square's attention.

It's hard to design a Disney's "Frozen" cake with a cash register, but it works like magic with a tablet, according to Dallas-area Society Bakery.

Mobile card readers like Square and PayPal Here must inevitably offer an EMV-chip card option to U.S. merchants, but how soon is too soon? And what are the consequences of arriving too late?

Square Inc. has purchased food delivery company, Caviar, in a move to add non-payment features to its mobile payment and ordering system.

Roam, a Boston-based unit of Ingenico, has begun offering its mobile payment services on Leapfactor, a business software platform.

Square plans to offer a version of its mobile card reader that can read EMV-chip cards, but the added security may come at a cost.