Economy

Discover has signed contracts with 50 merchant acquirers to enable PayPal's in-store payment system to pass 2 million merchant locations by the end of 2013, the card brand said.

Nintendo built a Near Field Communication chip into the tablet-like controller of the Wii U game console it launched late last year, and the video-game giant says it is now considering using that chip for payments.

Rage at the very thought of upgrading point-of-sale systems to accept EMV cards is becoming a theme among retailers.

Taxicab drivers and their passengers will soon be able to test new mobile hailing and payment systems, following the launch of an e-hailing pilot program and updates to New York City’s regulations for in-car payment terminals.

A payments startup that ignores Bitcoin in its strategic plan is like a publisher ignoring the Web in 1999.

Like wildcatters drilling for black gold, ISOs are beginning to harness a gusher of data and offer it to merchants as a value-added service.

Nacha's Janet Estep has just finished one of the biggest weeks of the year for the association—one that included heavy advocacy for automated clearing house payments at Nacha's Payments 2013 conference.

As mobile payments companies seek a receptive audience, many are turning their attention to restaurants. And the food industry, in turn, is increasingly receptive to putting mobile payments on their menu.

Rewarder's a startup that works in reverse of most online markets — it facilitates payments for buyers who are willing to pay for a unique expertise.

SumUp, a London-based company that allows merchants to accept card payments on their smartphones, will enable iPad acceptance through a partnership with Revel Systems.

Francoise Brougher, a former Google and Charles Schwab executive, is Square's new business lead.

Payvia Inc.'s newest clients — Skype, OnCam and Bright — demonstrate a growing appetite for charging payments to consumers' phone bills.

People — and payment companies — are starting to take Bitcoin seriously.The decentralized virtual currency is overcoming its stigma as a fringe currency for illegal transactions and is stirring up consumer scrutiny of the practices of large payment providers. The payments industry is changing rapidly, but today the movement isn't about payments — it's about data.

GoPago Inc., a San Francisco-based mobile payment provider last week hired Steve Elefant as its chief strategy officer. Elefant, a senior strategic consultant at Google Inc. for the past year, served as Heartland Payment Systems’ chief information officer until 2011.

Some big retailers are still lashing out against the expectation that they upgrade their point of sale hardware.

Chirpify, which lets people initiate payments over social media, has secured another $2 million in funding and now counts rappers Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg as clients.

ZooZ, an Israel-based mobile payment company, has secured $2 million in a Series A financing round from supporters XSeed Capital, Lool Ventures and Rhodium. The company's funding now stands at $3.5 million.

Medical marijuana dispensaries may not be ideal clients for ISOs unless they and their sale agents exercise caution, observers say.