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Visa Europe Ltd. plans to "significantly" reduce the fees it sets for processing cross- border credit-card payments in a bid to allay European Union competition concerns, the bloc's antitrust watchdog said.

Earlier today Groupon POS, a mobile payment app for merchants using iPads as point of sale systems, was released on iTunes, but the app has since been pulled from the app store.

Visa is adding electronic capabilities to its Visa Offers rewards program, leveraging online and mobile technology to bring offers closer to the point of sale.

Roam, a Boston-based Ingenico subsidiary that sells mobile commerce technology, will partner with iPayment to sell a range of mobile payment services to merchants.

Typically, I don't cover or analyze so-called payments innovations that merely embrace and extend the legacy infrastructure, but a new middleware startup, CardFlight, could actually operate as a payments "air traffic controller" because its code sits directly between the consumer and the processor.

Simon Haslam is becoming president and CEO of Elavon at a time of extreme stress for payments processors, which face nimble competitors, new payment standards and high-profile security risks.

NorsePayments wants to make it harder for card thieves to perform fraudulent card-not-present transactions.

The $45 million prepaid card crime spree, recently revealed by law enforcement agencies, is the latest in a long string of hacks on payment processors.

Facebook Connect is an increasingly prevalent way for Internet users to skip registration for other websites by using their Facebook credentials instead — and to WePay, it's also a tool for fighting payment fraud.

Southwest Airlines, Pacific Convenience & Fuels LLC, RaceTrac and Brinker International Inc. have joined the retailer-driven effort to establish a mobile wallet for merchants and consumers, the Irving, Texas-based MCX announced May 9. Brinker is the parent company of Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy.

Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks can again accept credit card donations after Valitor hf, the Icelandic partner of MasterCard Inc. and Visa Europe Ltd., began processing payments after losing a court case.

Near Field Communication technology has many detractors, yet it continues to advance as a mobile payments instrument. Banks should thus view NFC as an opportunity to ensure they stay relevant to customers' payments, according to a new Celent report.

Advantage Refreshments knows its vending machines look just like those operated by rivals, so it's trying to attract repeat business with a loyalty program from payments hardware maker USA Technologies.

Koupah, which is providing a new point of sale card acceptance tablet, aims to offset credit card transaction fees with ads.

CardFlight aims to make in-person purchases easier by enabling merchants to accept swiped card payments within their own mobile apps.

U.K. retail giant Marks & Spencer is claiming big results in emerging payments technology.

Simplee uses a personal financial management-style system with payment capabilities to help healthcare providers cut costs by making bill payments more straightforward.

American Express is pursuing a new chief financial officer to help it manage the opportunities and financial stress borne by the future of digital commerce and emerging merchant acquisition strategies.

Alaric Systems Ltd. will add myPinPad software to its card-not-present security offerings for payments service providers.

American Express Co. said Chief Financial Officer Daniel T. Henry is retiring later this year.