Google and Softcard have been fighting a long turf war to become the dominant mobile wallet for Android users. Softcard has finally conceded defeat, but Google still has much work ahead of it.

Mere days after disclosing that Google Inc. purchased Softcard's technology and intellectual property, the telcos' mobile wallet venture began publically disclosing its plans to shut down.

Jack Henry & Associates and its ProfitStars division have released an online payments and donations platform designed for financial institutions and their business customers, the company announced Feb. 26.

French tech consultancy FIME is partnering with cybersecurity provider Thales e-Security to encourage use of Host Card Emulation technology for contactless mobile payments.

Boku has released a new, cross-platform carrier billing payment technology that is designed to mimic a credit card payment.

As the number of Chinese students studying abroad increases, Geoswift is building out relationships with language schools and universities to mend the disjointed process of collecting tuition payments.

Apple Pay has begun its foray into airlines, deploying about 3,500 iPad minis that can accept mobile payments, but it is making a slow approach to the industry.

Samsung's purchase of LoopPay preps the company for mobile payments move, but the initiative will face challenges because of the initial dominance of magstripe technology and other factors.

Google plans to release a new set of Android-based payment developer tools at its I/O conference in May, according to a report by the tech news site Ars Technica.

Barclays is updating its Pingit person-to-person payment app to enable it to use Twitter usernames to identify recipients.

PreCash Inc. has added Visa and MasterCard acceptance to its Evolve Money mobile bill-pay app.

Brazil's embrace of digital commerce is providing juice for Santander's university smart-card program, which is growing by leaps and bounds as it lays the groundwork for the mobile channel.

Consumers in North Dakota are far less likely to experience an incident of e-commerce fraud than those living in West Virginia. Knowing this informs Forter's monitoring of e-commerce fraud.

Visa Europe will introduce tokenization part of a new mobile payment service it plans to launch in April.

MasterCard has deployed Host Card Emulation-based mobile wallets in more than 15 countries.

Host Card Emulation, the technology that allows contactless mobile payments without access to a phone's secure element, could bust the barrier that still lingers between mobile payments and loyalty.

Google is buying some technology and intellectual property from the rival Android-based mobile wallet Softcard, giving Google a chance to finally put to bed several business problems that have plagued the company since it launched its mobile wallet in 2011.

Home meal-prep delivery company PeachDish is working with Bitcoin processor BitPay to enable payments in the virtual currency.

MasterCard is aggressively pursuing emerging markets, and in early February opened a technology hub in Pune, India to compete with the entrenched domestic payment networks.

A technology-savvy German bank's plan to open a branchless banking platform in the U.S. could eventually pave the way for more mainstream use of cryptocurrency platforms, such as Ripple and Bitcoin.