Mobile payments

London-based Zapp has hired a former Barclays executive experienced in mobile payments to help prepare for its first product launch in early 2014.

Despite the warnings, cell phones are safe to use at gas pumps — and ExxonMobil Corp. aims to prove this in testing a mobile payment app for smartphone users in Nashville, Tenn.

The Pulse debit and ATM network is working with mobile payment provider Paydiant to give banks a software-based mobile wallet with the bank's brand.

PayPal is making programming tools available worldwide to allow software developers outside the U.S. to integrate PayPal payments into their applications.

IDT Payment Services, a subsidiary of IDT Corp., launched an international money transfer service to expand its Boss Revolution payment platform.

Five weeks after acquiring mobile payment startup JustChalo Inc., online restaurant reservation provider OpenTable is testing a mobile payment feature for restaurant patrons.

MasterCard, which announced its earnings hours after the Isis mobile wallet venture revealed plans to expand nationwide, faced questions over where the card network fits in the evolving mobile payments ecosystem.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc., which has been forging multiple partnerships in emerging payments markets, says its net revenue has risen to record levels.

Prepaid cards, widely accepted by the underbanked as a way to facilitate spending, are also emerging as a catalyst for saving and an alternative to short-term credit.

The best way to judge a mobile wallet's potential is to see how it handles failure.

Isis, the carrier-run mobile payments venture, plans to take its system nationwide this year. The initiative, which was formed by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, has been testing its contactless payment technology in Salt Lake City and Austin since October.

Fiserv Inc. increased its payments revenue and signed new clients in the second quarter, pushing its overall revenue up 10%, to $1.2 billion, in the second quarter from a year earlier.

Developers with early access to the next version of the iOS operating system have discovered software support for a fingerprint scanner that could be built into an iPhone or iPad's home button, according to various reports.

In the crowded mobile point of sale market, One Step Retail Solutions is making a name for itself by providing its Teamwork Retail software to rap artist Jay-Z for his Rocawear clothing stores.

India's consumers have everything they need to move away from cash—they're just waiting for the right catalyst, according to Visa's Sam Shawki.

Merchant Customer Exchange, a mobile wallet initiative that involves more than 50 retailers, is coming into focus. Though the one-year-old MCX has yet to release a product, it has attracted key people and partnerships that demonstrate to the payments industry that it is a serious contender.

Viableware wants to differentiate its restaurant payment system by targeting high-end establishments with technology that doesn't erase the personal interaction between patrons and staff.

Payroll card provider ADP is updating its technology to provide greater visibility into users' financial health at a time when payroll cards face fresh scrutiny over costs to users.

The Dunkin' Donuts mobile payment app is "a continuing driver of sales" for the company, as more than 3 million customers have downloaded the app through the second quarter of 2013.

To combat the billions of dollars consumers lose in “gray charges,” or charges they are misled into paying, BillGuard has released an iOS mobile app.