NFC

The U.S. is already very late to the party when it comes to contactless payments. But even so, there are signs that many merchants still aren't prepared for an influx of contactless cards.

JCPenney ended support for Apple Pay in its stores and also removed the mobile payment option from its app, a surprising reversal for a brand that offered Apple Pay in 2015, within a year of its rollout. There are multiple factors in play here.

Wells Fargo & Co. has committed to converting all of its payment cards to contactless technology, beginning with credit cards and adding contactless debit cards this summer.

Mastercard has spent years attempting to overhaul transit payments to allow riders to pay with a contactless credit or debit card. This time around, it expects Apple Pay to play a significant role.

Mobile technology provider Mahindra Comviva developed a software integration for issuing banks and third-party digital wallet providers to add contactless payment capabilities to their mobile products in India.

It may take several more months of testing before it is deployed in a payments application, but a new money transfer specification the NFC Forum has developed carries the organization's promise of becoming an alternative to QR-code technology.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Citigroup and a handful of others have pumped more than 100 million contactless credit and debit cards altogether into the U.S. market recently, but it’s a drop in the bucket in the world’s largest card market.

JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Citigroup, Pentagon Federal Credit Union and a handful of others have pumped more than 100 million contactless credit and debit cards altogether into the U.S. market recently, but it’s a drop in the bucket in the world’s largest card market.

The U.S. has long lagged in contactless payment adoption — despite aggressive efforts to bring the technology to market years ago — but there’s finally signs of a turnaround as more consumers and merchants get on board.

Mobeewave, a provider of in-person contactless payment acceptance software, is getting an investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation that pushes a recent Series B funding round led by NewAlpha, Mastercard and Forestay Capital to nearly $20 million.