As Uber-like business models perpetuate, bringing more contractors into a world where their job functions are handled primarily through a mobile app, there are still some pain points for which plastic is well suited.

South Korean purchases via Samsung Pay have topped the equivalent of $30 million U.S. as of Sept. 20, according to the first figures released by Samsung.

Verifone has entered an agreement to use Barclays' Pingit mobile payment app as part of Verifone's PAYware Ocius mobile gateway. Initially, this deal will support only e-commerce sites but Barclays said the pair may bring the technology to the physical point of sale in a later phase.

Competition is heating up among mobile wallet makers, but not everyone is racing toward the same goal. Many are starting to look past Near Field Communication-based contactless payments, championing newer technologies as well as reviving older business models.

Once placed inside of payment cards, computer chips can catalyze uses well beyond merchant security, argues MasterCard's Carlos Cornejo, who adds the card network plans to expand card utility through the mix of chips and tablets.

Canadian credit union cooperative Desjardins Group is offering mobile credit and debit card readers for small businesses.

Retailers beware: Starbucks is changing consumers' expectations in mobile payments yet again.

The convenience store chain 7-Eleven will let consumers pay bills at its stores through an app from PayNearMe.

High fashion and contactless payments collided this week on the catwalk at the London Fashion Week event as Near Field Communication rings stole the show.

The U.S. restaurant industry is still challenged to fit EMV-chip card payments into an ordering and payment structure built around cash and magstripe cards. The vendor MyCheck sees this uncertainty as an opportunity to win restaurants over to its mobile payment system.

Mobile carriers would seem a natural fit for mobile payments in face-to-face sales, but the phone companies may be better suited for a long-distance relationship with retailers.

Spree Commerce reports that it has been acquired by First Data Corp.

Another vendor, Card1, has joined the ranks of all-in-one payment card makers, but with a slightly different approach. Where most rivals focus on hardware, Card1 is betting big on the cloud.

Payment services provider YapStone has hired former eBay executive Bryan Murphy as its president.

Citing sources close to Apple Pay, The Wall Street Journal says Apple has taken the first step in bringing its mobile wallet to China by registering it as a business entity.

It wasn't long ago that mobile point of sale companies like Shopkeep were the alternative, the way for very small merchants to finally start accepting cards.

Boston-based Eastern Bank will participate in a pilot of a new partner program from multi-account card provider Stratos.

Amazon has accepted NXT-ID's Wocket smart wallet to retail on its Launchpad program.

Apple Pay's ever-growing list of partners and competitors makes it hard for any one company to stand out among the pack. But several companies have found inventive — and sometimes baffling — ways to get attention.

PeerTransfer has grown by specializing in one area: facilitating tuition payments for international students. And now, under a new brand name, it's ready to add a second major (and maybe a third and a fourth).