Mobile payments

Xapo, a bitcoin startup headed by financial services entrepreneur Wences Casares, is launching its wallet app on iOS, a move that shows the company has turned some attention to ease of use.

Uber, the ubiquitous black-car company that popularized the use of mobile apps to book rides, will switch to a two-tiered payment system to continue operations in India.

Check, a mobile payments and financial management provider owned by Intuit, has completed updates to two of its mobile apps.

Square Inc. may have more incentive than other acquirers in urging merchant clients to accept EMV-chip cards, but its pricing strategy could deter some from adopting the secure technology.

There is lots of talk about mobile payments and where banks play, but the real opportunity has less to do with payments and more to do with “mobile commerce services," or all of those things banks (and merchants) can do via mobile to attract, engage, motivate and reinforce customer relationships to protect existing revenue streams and create new ones.

MasterCard has emphasized prepaid cards to replace cash as a first step to extend financial services to the underbanked, and is adding mobile technology to add more services to its financial inclusion initiative.

American Express Global Payments is adding cloud-based software from Intacct, a move that can make it easier to automate corporate payments, which still include paper-based processes.

Security passwords that have become common for e-commerce transactions and financial accounts translate poorly to mobile devices, fueling consumers' bad habits regarding weak or reused passwords.

The launch of Apple Pay last month was undoubtedly a defining moment in the evolution of mobile payments.

JPMorgan Chase and Co. will update its QuickPay person-to-person mobile payments app because the consumer experience could be better, according to Chase CEO of consumer and community banking Gordon Smith.

Merchants are enticed by the lure of the huge e-commerce market in China, enough to give a number of early client wins to Alipay's U.S. merchant acquisition effort.

The much-anticipated launch of Apple's mobile wallet was followed by a series of minor disasters for the fledgling payment system. Apple must overcome all of these obstacles if Apple Pay is to succeed.

Seeking to help its clients benefit from consumers who increasingly shop online or through mobile devices, GoDaddy Operating Co. LLC has launched its online store product for small businesses.

As payments leave plastic behind, the pressure is on banks to stay in front of merchants and consumers. But in its pilots of payment-capable wristbands, Royal Bank of Canada is finding that there are some areas that banks should steer clear of.

Safaricom Ltd., East Africa's biggest mobile operator, is bracing for competition in its key mobile-money business that helped boost first-half profit by 30 percent, Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore said.

The device, known as Clover Mobile, allows merchants to perform a variety of business functions, including scanning inventory and taking payments, using a mobile tablet. Earlier versions of Clover, called Clover Station, were designed to be affixed to a countertop.

Bitcoin merchant services provider BitPay added support for contactless Near Field Communication payments through its new Bitcoin Checkout App, eliminating several steps in its payment process.

Many companies have struggled for years to find a way to get consumers to use phones for payments. Some wallets promise better rewards and others promise stronger security, but Tipl.ly's approach is a bit more primal.

Avangate is working to meet its customers' demands for revenue-recovering tools for "freemium" business models, which offer a basic product or service for free but charge for add-ons or ongoing use.

As Apple and the Merchant Customer Exchange battle it out over smartphone-based payments, Royal Bank of Canada and MasterCard are jumping past the phone to cement their roles in the fast-growing market for wearable payments.