Mobile wallets

Usage of mobile and online banking services continues to rapidly expand. Here's how credit unions can help members understand the value these sevices offer.

The U.K.-based fintech says that a recent crowdfunding campaign shows demand for its product, even though the amount it raised is well below funds obtained from VCs.

Rapid-fire acquisitions, partnerships and investments in the likes of Uber, Lyft and Grab are transforming these ride-sharing providers. And much of this activity is built on their ability to handle payments seamlessly as part of the experience.

Good customer service, layered with new technology, gives community banks an advantage over big banks.

A shared cart that carries a consumer’s preferred form of payment throughout their purchase journey, regardless of which channel they begin and end with, can be a real differentiator for retailers.

In the payments world, Scharf is best known as the CEO of Visa Inc. from 2012 to 2016, where his strategies for faster payments, fintech partnerships and other key issues may shed light on what he has planned when he becomes CEO of Wells Fargo.

The imprints of vendor consolidation, mobile payments proliferation and voice enablement are continuing to ensure there is “a whole lot of shaking going on” in our industry, writes Strategic Resource Management's Michael Carter.

Even without cryptocurrency, blockchain provides necessary security and processing benefits, says Tatvasoft's Vikash Kumar.

Brazilian payments provider Ebanx is working with Alibaba Group to test a retail store that combines physical and virtual showcases to allow consumers to obtain Chinese technology products.

Starbucks’ latest innovation doesn’t include camera-driven invisible checkout and doesn’t even come from Seattle. But for rank and file retailers, it may prove even more informative than watching the progress of Amazon Go.

Many in the payments industry insist that cash is becoming less important — but that doesn't mean it will ever go away.

As the U.K. rapidly transitions toward a cashless society — with U.K. Finance predicting that by 2028, just 9% of payments will be in cash — even pocket money is going digital. And the disappearance of tactile interaction with cash changes how kids learn about budgeting.

It took a few years for mobile wallets to get past the aura of just a "cool technology" looking for a problem to solve, but Google Pay and its peers are clearly finding their niche as a way to embed payments with customer engagement tools.

Debit cards often lack the rewards and spending power of credit cards, and thus do not figure prominently in TV ads or direct mail flyers. Yet despite these limitations debit cards are beloved by millennials and anyone else who wants to avoid credit card debit.

If the retail giants' Merchant Customer Exchange payments venture collapsed under the weight of trying to create a one-size-fits-all mobile wallet to bypass card networks, then the implosion of that joint venture was the best thing that could have happened.

Amid success stories like Apple Pay, Google Pay and the Starbucks app, there are many wallet apps that failed to gain traction — or squandered it when they did. But there is a lot to learn from their experiences.

By dumping Chase Pay's standalone point of sale app, JPMorgan Chase is handing a victory to the likes of Apple Pay — but it's also eliminating an app that was tangential to the issuer's long-term payments goals.

Barclays has jumped on a huge range of technology that brings payments closer to myriad activities, but as competition looms, the bank is working to better organize its projects.

Apple is far from the first to apply a high-tech spin to the ordinary payment card. Several other companies before it have experimented with technology and materials in the hopes of providing a unique form of payment.

Apple's massive user base, fully digital enrollment system, merchant reach and partnership with Goldman Sachs threaten retail banks on multiple fronts.