Mobile payments

First Data is under pressure on a several fronts. While tasked with easing its debt, the Atlanta-based processor is also responding to the many disruptions brought by mobile technology and other innovations.

When people pay to use transportation, they're generating substantial data that's not being used to its full potential, says Phil Silver, director of business development for Urban Insights.

Philip W. Tomlinson, CEO of Total Systems Services (TSYS), will retire on July 31. He will be succeeded by M. Troy Woods, the company's president and COO.

Mobile payments technology provider SimplyTapp is opening its developer platform to allow card issuers and mobile app developers to quickly integrate Host Card Emulation, a technology that simulates a Near Field Communication contactless payment.

Online payments and electronic wallet provider Payza has added two features to its eWallet: Credit Card Top Up and Credit Card Withdrawal.

SIMalliance, which has been outspoken against the use of Host Card Emulation to simulate a Near Field Communication-based contactless payment, is now saying HCE technology can lead to more use of the phone's secure element.

A new startup called TruBeacon has developed a range of Bluetooth-based technology for mobile payments and other uses and market segments, including health care, data management, payments, rewards, community banks and credit unions.

Walmart is testing a program that uses its mobile app, website and tracking technology to give back to customers who paid too much for something at the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer.

Fast-forward into our ideal mobile payment future. Standardized contactless terminals stand on every checkout counter, ready to transact securely with any device. However, once mobile wallets cross the adoption hurdle, they can’t be content to rest. There are essential steps the technology will have to take to ensure its hard-won users don’t rethink the decision to go mobile.

Bango, a payment technology company in the U.K., has released its direct operator billing system to some digital merchants.

Shortly after Apple Inc. announced it would open the iPhone's TouchID fingerprint authentication system to third-party developers, Nok Nok Labs began working to integrate it into a product embraced by the Fast IDentity Alliance.

The payment capabilities in the new Fire Phone are just the latest in a series of products that only Amazon could pull off. The e-commerce giant's offerings range from basic services to its own digital currency.

Vend will integrate its payment system with QuickBooks Online, making it the second point of sale company this week (along with Flint) to tout a link to Intuit's accounting software.

Clover Network Inc., a subsidiary of First Data Corp. has partnered with DropThought to add instant consumer and employee feedback to Clover Station, a tablet-based point of sale.

Flint is integrating its iOS and Android small business payment apps with Intuit's QuickBooks Online accounting software, a move meant to enable clients to better manage the data connected to their transactions.

Digital coupon company Savor has extended the reach of its mobile shopping app, and plans to add Bluetooth beacons and card-linked offers to bring deals to consumers while they are in a store.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Fire Phone, unveiled today, has a button that blends mobile purchasing with real-world shopping.

Xpress Money has partnered with Kenya's Safaricom Ltd. to offer money transfer services through the M-Pesa mobile money platform.

Seamless' mobile payments system is currently available in only a few countries, but the Swedish company has its eyes set on quickly adding bigger markets.

VeriFone is introducing its sound-based mobile app for proximity payments, Way2ride, to taxi passengers in Philadelphia.