VeriFone Systems and National Payment Card Association (NPCA) have launched a payments and rewards product that supports mobile payments at gas stations.

At $12 billion in deposits, FirstBank narrowly misses being ranked among the top 50 banks. But it's rubbing shoulders with the top three as it becomes first non-founding member of the clearXchange person-to-person payments network.

Visa plans to parlay its investment in Near Field Communication technology in Australia through a venture with the top telcos and numerous handset manufacturers to establish contactless payments.

There has been a flurry of activity in payments technology in recent days. But as the dust settles, it's becoming clear that some of the most disruptive products are coming from outside the payments industry.

Heartland Payment Systems and Tabbedout are developing an integrated mobile payment system for restaurants and bars.

The parent of Alipay.com Co., Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's online payments operator, will pay 1.18 billion yuan ($193 million) for a controlling stake in an asset manager as he expands investment in financial services.

Visa Europe has secured the services of Conferma to provide its issuing banks and payments partners with technology that can provide virtual account numbers for business travel customers.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) plans an electronic voucher program in Lebanon that will enable Syrian refugees to make MasterCard payments.

DataCash and Redecard are providing residents in Brazil with options for making payments with cross-border e-commerce retailers.

Dickie Brennan is a New Orleans staple, a local business owner whose family has operated restaurants in the Crescent City for decades. A protégé of legendary chef Paul Prudhomme, Brennan is also an early adopter of a new mobile technology he hopes will change the way people dine out.

As Isis prepares for its nationwide launch, it is getting marketing help from a significant merchant: McDonald's.

First Data Corp. and Clover Network Inc. are collaborating on the Clover Station, a point of sale and business management system for merchants.

MasterCard has agreed to purchase Provus Billisim Hizmetleri A.S. (Provus), a Turkish payment technology and processing company.

E-Commerce sales on the Visa network in the U.S. surpassed $1 billion 188 times during the first nine months of the 2013 (out of 273 total days), a 16% increase in volume over the same period last year, the card network reports.

Jumio Inc. has expanded its ID scanning technology to support Apple and Samsung's digital wallets, enabling scanned payment cards to be used within other mobile apps.

Simple, which provides financial services primarily through online and mobile channels, plans to launch two mobile person-to-person payments systems.

Less than two months after launching Evolve Money for cash-paying consumers to pay and track bills online or through a smartphone, PreCash Inc. has its first wireless carrier supporting the app.

Mobile payments startup Pokkt has raised $500,000 in its first round of funding, allowing the company to eye expansion from India to other regions of southeast Asia.

Groupon's strategy in mobile payments relies heavily on the feedback it gets from its merchants. The company's latest update to the Breadcrumb POS mobile payment app allows those merchants to get similar knowledge about their own customers' needs.

Virtual Piggy has become a Demandware Link technology partner, which enables the youth payment company to reach retailers in Demandware's network.