Payment processing

American Express' blockchain patent application isn't just about payments: It could also radically change how card-based merchant offers are made and allow them to become much more targeted.

To consolidate the data flows that are increasingly becoming part of real-time payment processing, Ingenico is turning to MapR Technologies to provide artificial intelligence and analytics to its platform.

Rather than ban screen scraping, financial institutions should improve secure account connectivity so that consumers can share data with the apps they want to use.

At its current pace, the Global Payments Division of INTL FCStone Ltd. says it could process more than $1 billion in payments each year in Brazil.

Maybe it's coincidence, or maybe it's progress — in recent weeks, a number of large payment networks have suffered brief but widespread outages, particularly in Europe.

Once these security and convenience issues are addressed in the mind of consumers, we will likely see a faster mainstream adoption of digital payments, according to Matt Tatham, manager of content insights and data analyst at Experian Consumer Services.

Mastercard and Worldpay are embarking on a strong push to promote Mastercard's Pay by Bank system, which will likely face a deluge of competition under the updated Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which took effect this year.

Merchant acquirers have moved mountains to embrace software and e-commerce over the old model of selling point of sale hardware, but there are signs that transformation is not enough to please investors.

Citi and other banks are investing in automation aimed at speeding up the old-fashioned process for institutional clients' receivables and payables.

Digital payments are becoming a critical aspect of nearly every new service for merchants or financial institutions.