A pair of companies has launched services on Twitter that allow users to transact in Bitcoin across the microblogging site. And while Twitter has been selective of what companies facilitate payments in the past, the social networking giant hasn't yet touched these Bitcoin services.

Acquirers say they're signing up new merchants and retaining established customers with the help of software that bundles payment services.

The new year got off to a mixed start for virtual currency, with regulators in Asia clamping down on Bitcoin and gaming company Zynga embracing the emerging payments option.

The Target Corp. data breach just before the holiday shopping season triggered another round of rhetoric on the merits and shortcomings of chip-based cards. But the breach's direct effect on merchant EMV plans is largely up in the air.

Mobile payments company I Love Velvet plans to win the business of international merchants by combining its mobile point of sale offering with broader e-commerce and security compliance tools.

One of the newest location-based payment apps came out of Brett Neese's house on a Friday night.

Cloud-based wallets, QR code wallets and other software-based wallets seem to be shoving Near Field Communication hardware out of the spotlight. But reports of the death of NFC, which enables contactless payments from many mobile devices, have been greatly exaggerated.

E-commerce technology provider Shopify has launched a redesigned version of its iOS mobile app, adding features designed to enable store management and mobile payments.

While most gift cards are still made of plastic, digital cards are increasing in popularity among consumers because of the many options to customize the cards.

Chirpify founder and CEO Chris Teso's five o'clock shadow and plaid shirt identify him as one of the new breed of payments entrepreneurs. His advice to newcomers: be fearless.

Google will discontinue Bump and Flock, two file-sharing apps Google acquired when it purchased Bump Technologies last year.

As more payments companies seek the next big thing, they are finding that mobile payments tech is due for a makeover, and a lot more attention surrounds digital currency such as Bitcoin.

The Coinstar brand has long been associated with spare change, but for Blackhawk it's the key to a diversified strategy for prepaid products and a catalyst for mobile wallet adoption.

From a consumer's perspective, the Merchant Customer Exchange mobile payment initiative ended 2013 in much the same way as it ended 2012 - with many big-name merchants signed on, but no product available to make payments in stores. Behind the scenes, MCX has made greater strides.

Mobile financial services technology company Monitise says it has signed several recent deals with clients across Europe and Asia.

With 2013 coming to a close, here's a look back at some of our favorite contributions to the PaymentsSource blog this year.

Synqera treats its home turf of Russia as a proving ground for new point of sale technology, but it has global ambitions.

Google has made more progress by splintering its payments strategy in 2013 than it did when it tried to provide a single, unified product.

DoubleBeam, a white-label payments provider, plans to offer a complete mobile commerce platform for both its online and brick-and-mortar merchant customers through its December purchase of GoPago.

On Track Innovations Ltd. plans to concentrate more time and money on its payments division after closing the sale of its SmartID business to SuperCom Ltd. last week, the Israel-based payments technology provider says.