Economy

It took years to filter down from the big companies, but small businesses are now using high-tech customer relationship management.

Google, like its mobile-pay rival Isis, relies on phones built with Near Field Communication chips to support its mobile wallet. So the growing number of NFC-equipped phones should give the Google Wallet a strong boost — shouldn't it?

Now's the time for independent sales organizations to start offering mobile-payments options to their merchant customers.

Thirty-two percent of the acquiring executives surveyed for a recent report said mobile payments represent a “great risk" despite pundits' advice to seize the mobile pay opportunity.

For Jeremy Gumbley, watching the EMV transition pick up speed in the United States is a little like déjà vu. He saw the same problems in the United Kingdom 10 years ago.

Experts are wondering if the United States can meet the deadlines the card brands have set for converting to EMV chip cards from magnetic stripe cards.

Visa is offering a new data encryption service that could compete with third-party security vendors' offerings. The service's launch also indicates the card brand's growing desire to push beyond the requirements of the Payment Card Industry data security standards.

Not every sales call has a happy ending, but Joe Porco has figured out how to increase the chances of a desirable outcome and he’s sharing his formulas in his new job as a sales trainer.

Intrix Technology Inc., a provider of integrated processing and services for processors, ISOs and retailers, has introduced Invoice Creator, a module for its payment gateway that enables merchants to create and manage invoices from a virtual location.

Starbucks’ $25 million investment in Square focuses on Square’s consumer-facing mobile wallet, Pay with Square, instead of the systems Square developed for merchant use.

A joint venture formed by Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, and Central Payment Co. LLC will offer merchants a rewards system and social marketing software, the companies say.

Merchant acquirers and tech companies are collaborating on mobile payments issues in a new group formed by the Electronic Transactions Association, the Washington-based trade group announced Thursday.

As competition heats up among mobile-wallet providers, the payments industry is trying to calculate which approaches have long-term viability

The Electronic Transactions Association and the acquiring industry in general are courting Google Inc. and other high-tech firms as potential business partners.

ISOs are fretting about the possibility that retailers might start surcharging consumers at the point of sale for interchange fees, but most merchants dread the very idea of surcharging. Instead, merchants may use their newfound freedom to surcharge as a wedge in negotiating new contracts.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. could have chosen any town in the United States for its “city immersion campaign” marketing push. So, why did it pick Lincoln, Neb.?

When data security vendor Trustwave introduced its newest software, the mission seemed clear — help merchants keep abreast of Payment Card Industry data security requirements.

Gary Peterson used to discourage merchants from accepting Discover cards. He resented the card brand because its 800-member sales force competed with his independent sales organization for merchant-services accounts.

CHICAGO — Uncertainty plagues the acquiring business. Current disruptions include merchants' new freedom to quote interchange fees to consumers, and one company's claim to banish interchange entirely.

CHICAGO — Isis is seeking ISOs to promote mobile payments to merchants in a test of its mobile wallet this year in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas.