Economy

Many of the payments industry's longtime veterans and new entrants started their careers in other industries or founded their companies with a different purpose in mind. Here are some highlights from the many diverse career paths in the payments world.

The wireless carriers' Isis mobile wallet venture is using acquirers to build merchant support for its technology.

The wireless carriers' Isis mobile wallet venture is launching a new program to build merchant support for its technology.

Google Wallet now offers a plastic Google Wallet debit card designed as an alternative to using a smartphone to pay at the point of sale.

Don’t get distracted by the big-name telecoms that designed the Isis mobile wallet, or you’ll miss the wizard behind the curtain: American Express.

Two decades ago Mary L. Gerdts did something that was quite unusual at the time. She started an ISO that focuses solely on one industry—hotels.

The buzzy credit card consolidator, at least in its initial incarnation, doesn’t render wallets redundant or, even, allow the consumer to do anything they can’t already.

The copier company-turned-business processing outsourcer for banks and other companies is testing a new option for at-home agents: pods, complete with work desks and video capabilities, that are designed to serve as a private workspace for remote staff.

Square has updated the design of its Square Register app in an attempt to improve user navigation and provide a consistent experience across different operating systems such as Google's Android and Apple's iOS 7.

PayPal's freshly announced support of in-app payments for Uber and McDonald's illustrate that the eBay unit is fast adapting to a world that demands more of its payments technology vendors.

Nomad 2.0, a second-generation mobile EMV chip-and-PIN card reader from AnywhereCommerce, is reportedly smaller, lighter, less expensive and more useful than its 18-month-old predecessor.

PayPal is moving into more modern marketplaces through a deal with car-service company Uber Technologies Inc.

The Electronic Transactions Association plans to keep expanding its advocacy, educational and networking efforts in the coming year.

As a fast, low-cost payment system, Bitcoin provides healthy competition for legacy banks. It's also a bulwark for financial privacy and freedom of speech.

Lew Goodwin, head of Green Dot Bank, and Alex Sion, president of Moven, hope to draw market share away from traditional banks with their digital banking offerings. One method: telling consumers at all times where their money is.

With their regulatory status, refined customer identity procedures and global infrastructure, banks could offer bitcoin exchange services and lead the modernization of financial services. Instead, they’re freezing Bitcoin entrepreneurs’ accounts.

The Electronic Transactions Association plans to keep expanding its advocacy, educational and networking efforts in the coming year, the trade group’s CEO says.

When Isis launched its mobile wallet nationwide this month, it also launched a new interface. Here's a look at what new users see when they sign up.

Isis, the mobile wallet venture led by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, is launching nationally after extended public tests.

TSYS and Womply, a big-data startup, are nearing their goal of providing Womply’s Insights platform to 10,000 of TSYS’ clients by the end of the year.