Credit

If things are truly bigger in Texas, then mPowa CEO Dan Wagner figures it's a good place for merchants to be able to accept credit card payments via mobile devices in those wide, open spaces.

Consumers continued to pay off their credit cards at historically high rates in the third quarter, with the delinquency rate hitting an 18-year low, according to the American Bankers Association.

Many banks have kept hybrid credit and debit cards in testing mode for lengthy periods, suggesting that single cards offering dual payment options are yet to live up to their initial promise—and may never do so. The one exception: Fifth Third Bank, which says its hybrid Duo card has been a success.

MasterCard Inc. plans to introduce its contactless payment technology into Azerbaijan during the first half of 2013.

With many of its legal questions and organizational issues addressed, the Merchant Customer Exchange has turned its focus to the technology that will drive its mobile commerce initiative.

Discover, which has been testing the features of its new "it" credit card in some markets since mid-2012, announced Jan. 2 the nationwide launch of the product.

PayPal signed many new retail partnerships this year, while also building a digital wallet and a handful of plastic cards to complement its online payment system.

2012 began with the abrupt departure of PayPal's president. Upon putting a new leader in place, the eBay unit made many key moves to adapt its operations and its product line to the fast-changing payments market.

As 2012 progressed, one thing became strikingly clear: the card networks do not want to be left behind as new digital payment methods threaten plastic.

Fraud and data security trends can change by the minute, often making it difficult to pinpoint a specific development as a key event during the course of a year. Not so in 2012.

Digital currency, especially Bitcoin, picked up in popularity this year as the concept began garnering positive attention from payment players — but a series of negative incidents kept the skepticism alive as well.

Total System Services has completed its purchase of ProPay.

The payments industry is no stranger to fraud, but there are some key events that stand out over the course of 2012 — and threaten to spill into 2013.

Private Label Is Dead. The headlines proclaimed this just a few years ago. In one specific case, an activist investor sought to protect Target from the danger of their failing portfolio by forcing them to exit the business. It seemed like every retailer was leaving the space, or at least considering it.

D'mai Urban Spa in Brooklyn, N.Y. loves rainy days because it sees more customers when the weather is dreary. The Park Slope shop gleaned the information from Swipely's technology, which collects data on every customer that swipes a card in the spa.

McDonald's is adding more tap-and-go acceptance at its payment terminals worldwide.

Google’s mobile wallet appears to be staggering to the finish line of 2012. After all, it was a year that started with a reported security breach and is ending with speculation that the search-engine giant will add a plastic card to the otherwise entirely digital wallet.

It's been a rocky year for digital currencies. Facebook began phasing out its Facebook Credits while Bitcoin continues to suffer a bad reputation. However, there are some promising developments on the horizon, with experienced payments providers joining in the digital currency game.

The Google Wallet we see today is a much different product from what we had a year ago. Here are the major changes that took place this year, and the challenges Google faced — and still faces today.

JPMorgan Chase's recent deal to buy the merchant-offer provider Bloomspot Inc. will expand the ways in which the largest U.S. bank by assets presents offers to customers.