Payment processing

Merchant acquirers are required to respond to mobile's impact in an almost infinite number of ways, and in many cases deem acquisition the best and fastest play to diversify beyond payments.

Moneris Solutions Corp. was chosen to handle all payment processing for the Government of Canada, the company announced March 19.

Like a Hollywood star making the rounds before a premier movie date, Visa and other organizations are going on tour to promote EMV-chip card technology ahead of the October deadline set for U.S. companies.

The merchant acquiring industry faces continuing pressure from shrinking margins and disruptive competitors, but it has used the past five challenging years to seek out a position of strength.

Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Pay and PayPal are just a few of the solutions which financial technology commentators predict will bring about the downfall of cash and the plastic card.

The largest franchisee of the Sonic fast-food chain has rolled out Mobivity Holdings Corp.'s SmartReceipt technology at various locations with plans for additional distribution.

Merchants' Choice Payment Solutions and Powa Technologies have teamed up to launch an integrated tablet-based point of sale system in a bid to meet demand for tablet-based payments.

American retailers have struggled with mobile payments, largely because they try to reinvent the entire buying process instead of evolving what's already there. Starbucks' success is rooted in its willingness to take the easiest route time and again, an approach that is clear in how it chose to implement Apple Pay.

Jack Henry & Associates and its ProfitStars division have released an online payments and donations platform designed for financial institutions and their business customers, the company announced Feb. 26.

Bluefin Payment Systems, a technology vendor based in Georgia, will provide mobile point-to-point encryption technology to Infinite Peripherals, a point of sale system provider.

First Data is releasing new services that stem from a strategic shift that followed the company's restructuring over the past year.

With Apple Pay gaining momentum, Google Inc. reportedly is planning to relaunch a new version of its wallet in late May at the Google I/O, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Banks and processors often avoid small direct response businesses out of risk concerns, though the category fits right into EVO Payments International's multi-media sweet spot.

The big antitrust ruling against American Express could set off a price war that squeezes all payment card networks -- not just Amex -- as well as card-issuing banks.

Mobile payment company iZettle is countering the idea that EMV compliance increases merchant expense by offering a free version of its mobile chip-and-PIN card reader.

Starbucks' decision to support Apple Pay within the coffee chain's mobile payment app seems like a natural alliance of two major forces in mobile payments, but it raises a significant question: Why not do the same with Square, with which Starbucks has much deeper ties?

The Australian market has used EMV-chip cards for more than a decade, necessitating a very different approach to the mobile point of sale.

Encryption has become a political hot potato for the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council as it compiles a list of validated encryption vendors and services — and leaves off some companies that say they deserve to be recognized as secure.

Samsung is widely reported to be adding mobile-payment technology from LoopPay to its next Galaxy smartphone. Such an approach would be vastly different from that of Apple, PayPal or MCX's CurrentC — and it would address a key issue with LoopPay's own business model.

U.S. gas stations can wait until October 2017 to begin accepting EMV-chip cards or face the consequence of an increase in fraud liability, but there's already concern that the work at gas pumps could stall.