Economy

Bitcoin companies are getting more recognition as serious contenders, and as they grow they are filling their ranks with people who established their careers in the mainstream payments industry.

Circle Internet Financial, a startup aiming to make the digital currency Bitcoin more user-friendly for merchants and consumers, has raised another $17 million, bringing its total funding to $26 million.

Fearing federal regulation of the acquiring industry, the Electronic Transactions Association has led an effort to develop guidelines designed to show the industry can police itself.

Fine print can become an agent’s undoing during contract negotiations with an ISO. Settle for a vague understanding of the terms, and you might be setting yourself up for trouble.

Innovation can come from unlikely places. Five years ago, few would have guessed that the most widely available mobile wallets would be developed by companies like Starbucks and Google, which built their names in completely different fields. Several more disruptors are joining the scene, with even weirder origins.

Starbucks now gets 14% of its in-store U.S. payments from its mobile app, the company reported at its annual shareholder meeting today. This indicates a steady increase since June 2013, when it received 10% of U.S. payments through its mobile app.

Since starting his ISO in 2009, Michael Hass has recruited more than 200 sales agents, but only one has sent a contract to an attorney for review. Only about a quarter of agents ask specific questions about contracts.

The growing complexity of technology is forcing payments providers to ask whether they are better off becoming one-stop shops or building a network of partners to fill out their offering.

Square has reportedly delayed an initial public offering, which gives the company a chance to build more services that position it for sustainable growth, according to payments consultant Richard Crone.

These 20 women have reached impressive heights in a traditionally male dominated industry and have played a vital role in helping their organizations stay ahead of the curve.

These 20 women have reached impressive heights in a traditionally male dominated industry and have played a vital role in helping their organizations stay ahead of the curve.

In an industry where many acquirers shun high-risk merchant accounts, Michael Foy seeks them out.

MasterCard and Visa have formed a group to improve efforts in the U.S. to switch to EMV-chip cards other security methods.

Innovation requires the ability to tinker, test, break and repeat. Strategy and its close derivatives increase and delay the cost of failure. Business cases, focus groups, market analysis and roadshows, among other things, divert resources and defer action.

Starbucks, which handles more than 11% of its weekly transactions as payments from its mobile app, is planning to add several new features for iPhone owners.

The settlement of the Visa and MasterCard class action interchange swipe fee case has spawned a new type of company—the third-party claims filing company.

Beacons, or Bluetooth Low Energy transmitters, are seeing a burst in popularity as components of mobile payment systems. The devices, which can be roughly the size and shape of a nightlight, allow retailers to detect a mobile app user's presence in the store.

The Princeton, N.J.-based processor Heartland Payment Systems is moving its sales headquarters to a new building in Edmond, Okla.

Granted, journalists can be scavengers; they're nosey and can be positively annoying when they want information. But why does a whole group of crypto-anarchists and technologists think they have the moral high ground?

Knab, a branchless bank based in Amsterdam, is aiming to attract 250,000 customers by 2017 through the promise of smoother payments.