Mobile payments

A consortium of Swiss banks hope the country's reputation for banking, technology and smartphones will give its financial institutions a commanding position for in-store and in-app payments.

For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, Visa is inviting third-party software developers onto its network with the goal of advancing digital commerce.

Seamless, a Swedish maker of mobile payments software, has partnered with Xpress Money for international money transfers.

Square, which has been selling its Apple-friendly new reader for $49 on its own site, revealed Feb. 3 that it will sell the readers for the same price at Apple stores.

Contactless payment company Zapper is integrating PayPal's One Touch to power faster execution for contactless transactions.

Cross-border payments, even small ones, take days to clear, cost 5% to 10% of the payment amount, and can be baffling to the consumer. Zenbanx, TransferWise and Ripple and other startups are trying to change this.

Despite electronic payment innovations, cash is still the most efficient and simplest form of payment for low-value transactions.

Barclays is reportedly informing customers that it is planning to post an update to its U.K. website and through Twitter to indicate when it will support Apple Pay.

The digitizing of payment transactions has become important enough at Visa and MasterCard to remain a top investment priority, even as the networks brace for the economic fallout of collapsing oil prices and volatile stock markets.

The rush to be a "one stop shop" for merchants by bundling mobile, Web and in-store payment technology is prompting many companies to join forces, resulting in several high-priced mergers and acquisitions in recent years.