Payment processing

Phillips 66 is the third major merchant to come aboard for JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s upcoming launch of Chase Pay—alongside Starbucks and Shell Oil—and the byproduct of this deal is an overhaul of the gasoline and convenience retailer’s existing, relatively bland apps.

Grocery stores are well-oiled machines, with the placement of every product carefully researched to guide the shopper from one item to the next. But even this process has some room for improvement.

Walmart Pay has been available nationwide at Walmart stores for several weeks, but consumers haven’t taken much notice — a foreboding sign for those hoping for a breakthrough with merchant-branded mobile payment apps.

Three quarters of debit cards will have chips by the end of the year, but slow merchant adoption is limiting use, according to Pulse.

Payments technology is rapidly changing, but so is the broader environment for retailers, creating a need for flexible and diverse payment acceptance options.

The tough move from free to fee for its readers has Square adjusting its strategy to lure merchants, but it also opens the door wider to new markets, according to CEO Jack Dorsey.

Three months shy of the EMV liability shift’s one-year anniversary, issuers are making brisk progress but merchants are stuck at a crawl.

Visa announced Quick Chip four months ago, but until today the card brand has not had a place to showcase its faster EMV technology to merchants who feel burdened by the EMV payment process.

In the first half of 2016, the payments industry had its most active six months of merger-and-acquisition activity since the second half of 2014.

First Data Corp., the payments processor that went public last year, climbed after posting second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates.

Many times, bitter rivals must set aside their differences for the common good. This has happened a lot in recent years as the payments industry adjusts to the fast pace of innovation.

Square will enable sellers to make daily bank deposits, adding another in a series of merchant-focused perks designed to diversify revenue streams and sweeten the company's appeal to businesses.

TSYS is beginning to integrate its $2.4 billion acquisition of TransFirst, an initiative the Columbus, Ga.-based processor hopes will substantially extend its ability to serve merchants in the high-pressure arena of multichannel commerce.

When it comes to filling up at the gas pump and making other everyday purchases, consumers are forgoing cash and using credit cards and debit cards. Retailers are upgrading their systems to keep up with changing payment trends, which is driving demand for payment service providers.

Vantiv had a specific vision in mind when acquiring Mercury Payment Systems two years ago to provide the ultimate playground for app developers to operate in a multi-channel world.

They say to dress for the job you want, not the job you have, and First Data's Clover operation did just that.

Visa and PayPal have been at war for as long as PayPal has existed, and their recent cease fire could allow both companies to overcome the barriers they have spent years building between the worlds of digital and in-store payments.

Mastercard is betting its $920 million investment in the U.K.'s VocaLink gives it a significant edge in many emerging technologies, particularly in regions where it is lagging Visa in traditional card-based business lines.

Paris-based SlimPay, which built a following among European consumers using its service to make online purchases directly from their bank accounts, is broadening its reach to the U.S.

The industry-led EMV Migration Forum is changing its name and expanding its focus to accommodate the myriad changes that are happening alongside the move to chip cards.