Payment processing

There is a whopping $630.5 billion bonanza of holiday shopping projected to occur this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Though if retailers aren't ready to accept chip cards and mobile transactions, they could miss out.

Despite many merchants' resistance to the EMV migration in the U.S., the chip-card technology can become more appetizing when it is baked into another item on the terminal maker's menu.

Merchants have long known card network rules permit them to charge a different price for accepting cash versus cards, but outside of gasoline retailers, most merchants haven’t done much about it.

First Data and NCR Corp. are flexing their scale muscles in an agreement that brings the technology strength of both companies to the grocery, petroleum and convenience store industries and expands NCR's ATM footprint.

Within less than 12 hours, LoanDepot Inc., a fast-growing mortgage lender, aborted its plan to go public and Fitbit Inc., the maker of wearable devices, priced a secondary offering below the previous day’s close.

MasterCard is integrating software developer Cardtek’s HCEXpert solution to enable Near Field Communication-based mobile payments for customers of MasterCard Payment Transaction Services, a unit of MasterCard.

Western Union has named Elizabeth Chambers as the company’s chief strategy and product officer.

Electronic payments company PAX Technology has become the main supplier of point of sale terminals for Russia's Sberbank.

Electronic payments technology provider Verifone has entered into an agreement to buy Payment as a Service provider InterCard AG.

As more merchants and consumers adopt mobile payments, many cybersecurity experts warn a boost in mobile payment-related breaches will result, though in some cases providers are sacrificing vulnerability for easier use and more adoption.