Acquirers

Amazon.com, which just launched its own smartphone, may be nearing the launch of a mobile card reader that would work like Square's device, according to reports. Such a move would complement the company's many recent payment initiatives.

Zing is releasing an iPad app that leverages Web hosted technology to access a large selection of business functions through the point of sale.

Apple may have to place more emphasis on the iPad's capabilities as mobile point of sale devices to help it recover from a small but sharp decline in tablet sales.

San Francisco-based Pose, one of the many companies in the cloud-based mobile point of sale market, aims to differentiate itself by eliminating its $49 monthly subscription fee.

Mobile point of sale provider Appetize is targeting entertainment venues and music festivals, a niche that's often a testing ground for payments technology.

Getting retailers to add mobile payments – or even ban credit cards in favor of mobile – is not impossible. But it just might be easier to get merchants on board with mobile if they haven't even accepted their first payment.

More merchants are interested in accepting payments on tablets and phones, and they have many choices of providers. What are banks and vendors doing to set themselves apart? (Image: ShutterStock)

Powa is reaching out to individual software vendors around the world in an attempt to accelerate integration of its point of sale tools with local mobile apps.

First Data Corp. has added technology from Perka, its customer loyalty subsidiary, to its Clover Station point of sale tablets. This is the latest of several updates First Data has made to boost the appeal of its Clover offering.

As Square's competitors pile on features to win business from the mobile payments pioneer, the company may be seeking to one-up its rivals by adding non-payment services.

Facebook is updating its desktop applications to allow game developers to sell virtual goods from ads posted in the user's news feed or along the page's right-hand column.

Bindo wants to combine its cloud-based iPad point of sale product with an online marketplace, similar to how Square's iPad system links merchants to Square Marketplace. This hybrid approach is meant to make Bindo more appealing to local merchants.

The telco is offering Payleven's hardware to enable its small-business customers to comply with an Italian mandate to cut back on cash use.

Revel has added a dashboard for Yelp and Foursquare to its point of sale tablet, giving businesses a way to respond immediately to any complaints or praise posted to social media.

SCVNGR's LevelUp, which is not content to listen only to its merchant clients, is once again giving consumers a voice in evaluating its mobile payments experience.

Jusp is adapting its business model to target larger clients for mobile payments. It added a service called Payments List that attaches to a business's back end, and it also allows the mobile point of sale service to work with Windows PCs.

Clover Network Inc., a subsidiary of First Data Corp. has partnered with DropThought to add instant consumer and employee feedback to Clover Station, a tablet-based point of sale.

Flint is integrating its iOS and Android small business payment apps with Intuit's QuickBooks Online accounting software, a move meant to enable clients to better manage the data connected to their transactions.

Swedish mobile payments provider Seamless has entered a distribution deal with retail tech provider PCMS Group.

PNC Financial Services has begun offering a new tool for merchants to accept payments on their mobile devices.