Economy

Because consumers are using mobile devices to check product prices or seek cheaper prices online, merchants need plans in place to move consumers to fast checkout and payment inside stores, says Peter Lin, program manager for mobile commerce for Sears Holdings Corp.

The use of ultrasonic noise — silent to the human ear — in mobile payments and rewards hasn't garnered as much attention as Near Field Communication chips and QR codes, but there are a few successful implementations.

Without any clear drive to consolidate, the mobile-wallet market will remain chaotic for merchants in the near-term. But from the consumer's perspective, it won't be chaotic at all.

As Google started releasing its wearable computing product Google Glass to developers, it had a message for banks and other would-be commercial users: You will be prohibited from distracting users with ads.

The merchant-backed mobile wallet consortium, Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), announced today its working with the technology company Gemalto.

Stripe, a tech company that helps other companies build payments technology, has hired U.K. technology entrepreneur Andy Young to help drive Stripe’s expansion in the United Kingdom and other markets.

Miami Dolphins fans would no longer have to tackle big crowds at the concession stands if Sun Life Stadium can put a plan in place to use mobile apps to order and pay for food.

Smoothie maker Jamba Juice Co. built its menu around variety and customer choice. Its approach to mobile payments is no different.

The prepaid card industry has a lot to teach the companies that handle virtual currencies, as the Bitcoin economy begins to attract the same regulatory scrutiny prepaid cards received over the past several years.

Flattr, a Swedish micropayments company, is discontinuing a Twitter-related payments service after apparently running afoul of Twitter's advertising rules.

Fiserv is changing the name of its ACCEL/Exchange payments network to Accel, a move that draws attention to Fiserv's technology as the company competes against rivals such as Fidelity National Information Services and develops new emerging payments technology.

The Electronic Transactions Association is taking the first step in what could become a new mission as an international trade group.

Virtual Piggy Inc., an alternative payment provider for teens, announced three new members to its board of directors.

Despite the abundance of portable card readers, the sales pitch is often the same: it's for babysitters, gardeners, flea market sellers and other small merchants. Payleven says the market can be much bigger.

LevelUp's partnership with Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services could expand the mobile payment system's presence in the Midwest, a region that has received less attention from startups than San Francisco and New York.

Evertec Inc., a significant acquirer processor and card issuer in Latin America and the Caribbean region for 25 years, is casting part of its business as that market's Square Inc. and looking to supercharge its payments business after its April 12 initial public offering.

Bank of America says it and other banks, which have a full view of each customer's financial needs, are well-positioned to succeed as mobile payments providers.

MoonClerk is a new company that's targeting a distinct segment of the payments technology market—the startups and small businesses that want to build a Web payment acceptance engine, but don't have the right tech expertise in-house.

EBay Inc.’s PayPal unit is buying Iron Pearl, a startup that helps companies find ways to make their products more attractive to customers on the Web.