Mobile payments

MasterCard's digital wallet is currently live in 10 markets and the company has plans to add four more countries this year in a push to strengthen the card network's capabilities in an increasingly digital world.

SCVNGR's LevelUp is launching a gift card program to allow merchants to sell physical cards in-store and digital cards through the company's mobile wallet app.

Six-year-old Poppy Blacow and her father Rik watched a distant stage where Black Sabbath, the English rock band led by infamous lyricist Ozzy Osbourne, was playing. They wanted to get closer seats, but upgrading their tickets was a decidedly "classic rock" experience in need of a "modern rock" upgrade.

Hilton's updated mobile app, which lets guests use their phones as room keys, has almost nothing to do with payments. But it may be the catalyst the payments industry has long needed to get consumers to warm to mobile wallets.

First Data Corp. has agreed to buy Gyft Inc., which sells digital gift cards, in a move to advance the Atlanta-based processor's mobile payment offerings.

Square plans to offer a version of its mobile card reader that can read EMV-chip cards, but the added security may come at a cost.

Westpac New Zealand plans to leverage mobile technology on several fronts in the coming year, powering contactless payments while maintaining more control over customer relationships than it would have if it signed on to a telco-led venture.

The NFC tattoo is far different from the inked lettering and designs many people have. It's even a stretch to call it a "tattoo" – despite the branding, it's really more of an adhesive bandage with a high-tech spin.

A Montreal-based laboratory for Fime has earned Visa's accreditation to perform tests for its contactless EMV payment specifications.

Amazon.com, which just launched its own smartphone, may be nearing the launch of a mobile card reader that would work like Square's device, according to reports. Such a move would complement the company's many recent payment initiatives.

The credit union-driven CU Wallet is mindful that if it comes on too strong with its mobile-payment pitch, consumers will be turned off.

Apple has big plans for payments, but it's not outspoken about what they are. However, more of its behind-the-scenes efforts are starting to leak; these six reports came in just the past two months.

PayPal will support the new Amazon Fire phone, which went on sale this week, in the latest move by the eBay subsidiary to make sure it has an app for any newly launched mobile device.

Zing is releasing an iPad app that leverages Web hosted technology to access a large selection of business functions through the point of sale.

Mobile payments now account for over 15% of transactions in U.S. company-operated Starbucks stores, where the company accepts an average of six million mobile transactions every week. This is a sharp increase from a year ago.

Visa, which just revamped its digital payment system, will introduce secure "tokens" in September to replace the 16-digit account number for online payments.

PayPal has expanded its mobile payment options in the Netherlands by working with Rabobank's MyOrder.

Happy Belly Curbside Kitchen, which operates out of food trucks, is planning to become a sit-down restaurant within the next year and is relying on mobile point of sale technology to make the transition.

Apple may have to place more emphasis on the iPad's capabilities as mobile point of sale devices to help it recover from a small but sharp decline in tablet sales.

Nearly 80 percent of U.S. consumers responding to an online poll said they are aware that they could be using digital wallets, but not nearly as many actually do.