Mobile wallets and mobile point of sale systems have tried many tactics to win over merchants by cutting costs. Some vendors have been extremely inventive in how they push cheaper payment options.

After years of speculation, Apple Inc. may finally launch a contactless mobile payments system with its rumored smartwatch.

The thaw between eBay Inc. and investor Carl Icahn began a month ago over dinner at the activist's New York City apartment.

You can't make everyone happy. This seems especially true for developing a Web payment standard to appease a vast number of stakeholders and interests.

The future belongs to mobile payments, but that future remains unclear, as many competing technologies are vying for consumers' attention.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is developing a product called CashPro BillPay, which combines the bank's CashPro Online treasury management product with Bill.com's payments technology.

eBay has agreed to appoint business executive and former AT&T CEO David Dorman as an independent director, ending its public dispute with investor Carl Icahn, who will withdraw his proposals to separate PayPal from eBay and to place two other people on eBay's board.

Smartwatches may not be popular enough or have enough screen real estate to usurp smartphones as the next major mobile payment device, but there is a strong potential for the two technologies to work in tandem.

This year roughly $507 billion in payments around the globe will be made through mobile devices, up 40% compared to 2013, according to Juniper Research.

VeriFone Systems plans to offer a new portable card terminal that can accept EMV-chip card payments and uses several wireless technologies.

Tansler, a "reverse auction" site for renting out properties to vacationers, is preparing to expand from its two test markets to a full global launch. As it does, it needs to make sure it can handle payments from any potential user.

Roam, Ingenico's mobile point of sale subsidiary, has partnered with services provider EVO Payments International to market Roam's technology to U.S. merchants.

Powa is launching a bundled mobile point of sale offering, called PowaPOS, which U.S. merchants can use to accept EMV-chip cards.

CardFlight, a mobile payments hardware and software developer, has introduced a mobile point of sale device with an emphasis on branding.

The merchants who want to use Leaf's tablet for payments, called LeafPresenter, often also need transaction services. Through the launch of its online marketplace, Leaf will now be ready to offer information from a host of merchant acquirers.

Nacha, the electronic payments association, has introduced a voluntary program that would use largely electronic methods to fix exceptions or errors in bill payments.

Online payment provider BlueSnap has expanded its local payment methods for merchants selling wares in Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Smaller businesses often have trouble finding a product designed for their size, and gift cards are no exception, says Mike Fletcher, general manager of InComm Digital Solutions.

Walmart has long been as much a force in financial services as it has been in retail. Here are some of ways Walmart and its executives have shaped - and challenged - the payments industry.

Peter Hazlehurst, Google Wallet's director of product management, has quit Google, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.