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).

Rather than join the throngs of financial services companies advertising their affiliation with Apple Pay on TV, radio and in print, Discover Financial Services is communicating to customers by turbocharging its rewards program.

Major payment processors are lining up in support of Android Pay, which Google began rolling out in the U.S. last week.

Shortly after its deployment in New York, Verifone's taxi technology has come to Philadelphia cabs, which now enable passengers to hail and pay for rides through a mobile app.

Fiserv has completed a test run of its card-free ATM software, in partnership with VyStar Credit Union.

The mobile technology craze is starting to sweep up loyalty programs, placing pressure on banks to brush up the reward redemption experience to meet consumer expectations.

PayPal's previous efforts to come to the physical point of sale about three years ago never managed to topple the entrenched payment methods. Now the company is taking another stab at it, securing an arrangement with Macy's Inc.

Hoping to reach businesses with purchasing needs that can't be handled with just a credit card, WePay is turning to Automated Clearing House payments to diversify its transaction options.

Strengthening its reputation as an innovator of mobile payment technology, Barclaycard says it will be the first financial services provider in the U.K. to launch a contactless payment app through Near Field Communication-enabled Android phones.

Royal Bank of Canada's marching ahead on two innovations designed to help it blanket the country's mature point of sale and connected devices.

As the Merchant Customer Exchange's CurrentC mobile wallet goes to trial in Columbus, Ohio—along with a limited test in Target stores nationally—the industry gets it first peek at the venture's priorities.