Mobile payments

PayPal's split from eBay was supposed to sweeten its appeal to merchants, but it’s also stoking rivals in the payments industry — in particular Visa CEO Charlie Scharf.

The last three of Canada’s large banks today said they’ve launched Apple Pay, joining the country's Interac debit network and the company's few other financial providers to enable Apple's digital wallet to completely blanket Canada.

It’s too soon to know how the futuristic Internet of Things (IoT) — the array of Web-connected devices and home appliances — will handle payments, but older concepts such as Near Field Communication and prepaid cards already have an advantage.

PayNearMe has long offered a service designed for consumers who prefer to use cash in a digital world, but even it has to accept the need to get on board with electronic payments.

Samsung announced a partnership with Citibank Singapore Limited enabling support for Samsung Pay on newer Samsung handsets in the Singapore region. Samsung Pay will launch there this summer following a pilot, the technology maker said in a May 30 press release.

EMV certification provider Fime has received EMVCo approval to support the use of its global test tool for the development of payment applications that use a handset's secure element.

How can banks benefit from a spurt of mobile payments innovation that is enabling faster checkouts with the advantage of greater security for customers?

Coin-counting machines came into vogue in the 1990s when Commerce Bank started installing "Penny Arcades" in its branches throughout New Jersey. They were a huge hit for a while, but banks have soured on the machines in recent years as usage declined and maintenance costs increased.

PayPal next month will launch a new mobile app for its iOS and Android users, but anyone using the PayPal app designed for Windows Phone, BlackBerry or the Amazon Fire handset is out of luck.

Smartphones are an important window into understanding underbanked customers, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a report released Wednesday in conjunction with a meeting of the agency's advisory committee on economic inclusion.