Economy

ISOs and lenders are recognizing that business lending’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition, and they have come to rely on merchant cash advances for some businesses and merchant loans for others.

For payment technology developers, the stakes couldn’t be higher as the FCC develops new rules that could support or eliminate net neutrality, a system in which web access is equal for most users, regardless of size.

Square, which made a short-lived attempt at digital gift cards in late 2012, is debuting a new gift card service today with a heavy emphasis on an older payment instrument: plastic.

Apple Pay's launch about a month ago was accompanied by an almost unprecedented amount of hype and media attention, but it takes more than buzz to shift the world to mobile payments, and Apple's job is far from over.

Mobile tech providers are racing to incorporate EMV chip-and-PIN or chip-and-signature security into their offerings. But many of these companies are taking fundamentally different approaches to linking EMV and mobile technology.

Merchant cash advances work better for some merchants, while other merchants prefer business loans. Informed ISOs can help them make the choice.

Kim Kardashian may be an overexposed reality star, but she's also a tech entrepreneur with a short-lived past in the payments industry. And several companies in the Bitcoin space are repeating her biggest mistake by offering a plastic payment card.

Co-branding credit card partnerships has never been smooth sailing, but competition has clearly gotten tougher amid Apple Pay's launch.

The card networks have come under pressure to lower interchange rates in number of countries, providing ammunition for retailers demanding similar cost adjustments in the U.S.

LAS VEGAS—Apple Pay and the card networks’ support is boosting tokenization as a security option for mobile payments, but fraud trends suggest an even more layered approach will be necessary.

Alibaba needs help to build a market in the West and is openly courting cooperation with Apple and PayPal, suggesting sweeping e-commerce alliances and even acquisitions may soon follow.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., startup wants to eliminate fees long hated by ATM customers and replace the lost income with revenue from ads that play on teller-machine screens. Yet questions have been raised about whether that is easier said than done.

Acquirers are encouraging vending-machine operators to add card and mobile electronic-payment acceptance, which could represent a whole new category of transactions.

The much-anticipated launch of Apple's mobile wallet was followed by a series of minor disasters for the fledgling payment system. Apple must overcome all of these obstacles if Apple Pay is to succeed.

As the mobile point of sale market matures, more merchants will migrate from smartphones to tablets, which Roam's Scott Holt said requires device-specific changes in design and technology.

As banks struggle to make sense of their wealth of customer information, the burgeoning industry of online marketplace lending is finding novel ways to glean insights from unconventional data points.

Eugene Danilkis, CEO of fintech startup Mambu, discusses banks' efforts to finance small and medium-size enterprises in developing countries, either indirectly (by funding microfinance organizations) or directly (by creating special lending subsidiaries unencumbered by legacy processes). He also explains how microfinance has moved beyond old stereotypes of lending to "basket weavers and fruit sellers"; why banks should heed Bill Gates' financial-inclusion message; and what the U.S. can learn from London about financial innovation.

Acquirers are encouraging vending-machine operators to add card and mobile electronic-payment acceptance, which could represent a whole new category of transactions.