Payment processing

The U.S. shift to EMV — once considered as viable as the U.S. shift to the metric system — is well underway. Here are some of the latest signs of progress, as well as some of the biggest pain points.

With its reputation for welcoming software developers with open arms solidified two years ago through its acquisition of Mercury Payment Systems, Vantiv Inc. is looking for the next way it can attract and enable innovation.

Minneapolis' new transit deployment seems limited and even old school—it's a closed loop payment system that's only available on buses and not on the Twin Cities' expanding light rail system.

Many moons after the U.S. payment industry adopted a largely chip-and-signature approach to EMV instead of chip-and-PIN security that’s standard elsewhere, rising merchant chargebacks are leading some to question the wisdom of PIN-free payments.

Consumers who have been issued EMV chip cards know how to use them. So it might come as a surprise when merchants equipped with chip card readers instruct their customers to swipe their cards instead.

Terminal maker Ingenico Group has named Suzan Denoncourt as its managing director for all aspects of operations in Canada.

Merchants that postponed their EMV migration are feeling the sting of losses connected to the EMV liability shift. They are now shoring up their fraud defenses and—in some cases—speeding up their EMV-migration plans.

As merchants prepared to swap out their aging magstripe terminals for modern EMV card readers, acquirers hoped that this widespread demand for equipment would flood ISOs with revenue. But instead, some are finding EMV simply added to their expenses.

Payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and global payment provider Computop have agreed to integrate their platforms to provide international payment processing.

The confusion over how banks categorize chargebacks has become the latest minefield in the transition to EMV chip cards in the U.S. And the sheer volume of chargebacks has forced some merchants to turn to legal action, questioning the entire migration process.

Verifone's presence in the mobile point of sale market is as old as Square's, but it has had a bit more trouble reaching Square's market. This year, Verifone's strategy will be to move the goalpost — and to chop it up into smaller segments.

Square is "betting big on Near Field Communication," but not to the point the company would consider bringing back its own Square Wallet app, CEO Jack Dorsey says.

Retirement was good for Pamela Joseph, former head of U.S. Bank's Elavon business, but not enough to overcome the lure of a high-level executive role at Total System Services, a company rapidly transitioning into a new age of digital payments.

ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company, now accepts Apple Pay at a majority of its U.S. gas stations.

Financial technology and marketing provider Kasasa has launched a Credit Card As A Qualifier option for its community financial institution customers.

Atlanta is flush with payment processors that handle more than 70% of the nation's transactions. These players now plan to expand their reach even further, hoping to make the southern city a fintech hub to rival Silicon Valley and New York.

A new Federal Reserve Bank report opens the door for retailer groups to push again for even lower transaction fees by deflating the argument that small banks have been harmed by the Durbin amendment's reduced debit transaction fees for larger banks.

Apple Pay’s struggles to build its user base are nothing compared with the labors of Sionic Mobile, which has been on a six-year odyssey of inventing and reinventing its mobile payments app.

Of all the initials small to mid-sized merchants hear during the digital payments migration—"EMV," NFC," "mPOS"—an older abbreviation may finally pry open the door to widespread payments automation: CRM.

Planet Payment and Visa have formed an agreement to deliver a payment processing platform to acquirers and merchants worldwide.