Digital wallets

Apple Inc. and Visa Inc. are facing claims by Universal Secure Registry, a small Boston-area company, that their mobile-payment partnership infringes four of its patents.

Samsung Electronics Co. has made its Android and Apple Pay competitor available in the U.K. Tuesday, as it attempts to play catch-up in one of the major markets for contactless payments.

To hear Apple CEO Tim Cook tell it, Apple Pay is experiencing "a phenomenal traction." But the company does not reveal specific numbers about Apple Pay as it relates to key metrics.

Samsung Pay last week went live in four more regions—Hong Kong, Sweden, Switzerland and the UAE—but despite reaching 14 major global markets, it’s still not officially available in the U.K., one of the world’s most active zones for contactless payments.

In-app payments via Apple Pay have been available with the ExxonMobil Speedpass+ app since last year, but this week the petroleum giant boosted the app to enable users to pay at the pump at 9,600 U.S. Exxon and Mobil stations via the Apple Watch.

Apple Inc. may wish to launch a person-to-person money-transfer service to rival Venmo, according to a new report.

PayByPhone will add Apple Pay as a payment option for U.K. drivers later this year, as competition in the fast-growing market for mobile payment apps intensifies.

One of Australia’s largest banks, Westpac, is the first of the country’s biggest four banks to adopt Samsung Pay, expanding customers’ contactless mobile payment options.

Apple Pay still struggles to displace cash and cards in the U.S., but its recent integration with Western Union shows the mobile wallet has some untapped potential.

Net Element Inc., a global payments processor with offices in Miami and Moscow, has extended support for Apple Pay to Russian consumers via its PayOnline subsidiary.