Mobile payments

As ATMs on large bank networks increasingly use mobile phones for account access — a trend driven in part by mobile banking — non-bank ATM operators are working to enable the same features to attract mobile-savvy cash users.

Visa’s efforts to expand its mobile payments service mVisa in developing nations reached a milestone this month in Nigeria, the first country where banks are enabling cross-border payments with the QR code-based mVisa technology.

Mobile wallets have failed to excite many consumers, but Canada has an extreme case of paralysis underscoring the stark need for ongoing incentives to get consumers to change their payment habits.

The payments industry has come a long way with how it treats loyalty and rewards. Here are some of the more creative offerings to come about this year.

Citigroup is expanding its payments partnership to allow its card members to use their ThankYou rewards points for purchases at PayPal checkout in the U.S.

Turning a pre-existing digital payment network into an in-store line buster has been a key play for Starbucks and Square, and Amazon is weighing in with its own app that allows its huge network of users to streamline retail experiences.

Mass transit systems have been proven as an effective way of introducing new technologies and driving adoption in many regions, but in many ways they are still vastly behind schedule.

The white-label banking platform provider Urban FT has purchased the mobile banking technology firm iParse and several of its patents.

The feature instructs consumers to follow an object on the screen with their eyes, in a randomized pattern Jumio said will be nearly impossible for fraudsters to fake.

As retailers scratch their heads to find ways to counter Amazon's ongoing disruption of their industry, investment is flowing to technology companies that meld shopping, payments and fulfillment.