Economy

Dekkers Davidson, CEO of the Merchant Customer Exchange, wants to create the same type of disruption in mobile payments as Uber did in the taxi world.

Growing income inequality is said to be a major reason most consumers plan to spend the same or less than last year on holiday shopping, and it could hurt bank and credit union revenues in the fourth quarter and present them other long-term challenges.

In Bangladesh, the microfinance pioneer operates as profitable bank. But the U.S. arm, which lacks a banking license, is pursuing a different strategy.

Many companies have found it difficult to build consumer interest in using a dedicated app for payments, particularly for person-to-person payments. Some companies have determined that the best way to keep users engaged is to blend payment capabilities with social networking.

Swipely began promoting its services through ISOs, value-added resellers and other third parties about a year ago, and the channel now accounts for a third to a half of the company's new customers.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Stability Oversight Council needs a more formal system for monitoring its process for designating nonbanks as "systemically important," a watchdog said Thursday.

Square is adding global support for its Register merchant services app, a move that allows the company to measure demand in new markets before investing in the distribution of its hardware and other services.

Alternative lender FastPay, which specializes in lending to digital media startups, received $15 million from newly formed Oak HC/FT, a $500 million growth-equity fund that invests in health care and financial technology.

Swipely began promoting its services through ISOs, value-added resellers and other third parties about a year ago, and the channel now accounts for a third to a half of the company's new customers.

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.