Payment processing

BTC China, the nation's largest Bitcoin exchange, has had low-level discussions with regulators seeking recognition of the digital currency that would allow it to be used to buy goods and services in the country.

NCR has been working to become a "hardware-enabled, software-driven business" for eight years. With its purchase of online and mobile banking vendor Digital Insight and transaction switching and fraud detection software company Alaric Systems, it's taken a big step forward.

NCR Corp. has agreed to purchase Menlo, Calif.-based Digital Insight Corp. for $1.65 billion. Separately, NCR also completed a purchase of Alaric Systems in London for $84 million.

Because of the changes that mobile will bring to the point of sale, the payments industry can expect to see acquisitions, consolidations and investments in that market over the next six to 12 months.

While nearly two thirds, or 61%, of U.S. online consumers have heard of a digital wallet, only 11% actually use one, an indicator that wallet providers still face challenges reaching consumers, according to Forrester Research.

MasterCard worked with Intel and Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors to establish a digital service that allows consumers to initiate online transactions by tapping their MasterPass card or Near Field Communication-enabled smartphone against a built-in NFC reader.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. started offering a cloud computing service known as Ju Baopen for banks and securities firms, as China's largest e-commerce company ventures into financial-related services.

A mobile wallet project in Hungary is taking the leap from testing to market rollout after receiving positive feedback from initial users.

As the prepaid card market has matured, it has become a "business not for the faint of heart or haphazard investor" because of regulatory scrutiny and competition's effect on pricing, according to Aite Group.

After clashing with regulators and being blacklisted by many banks and credit unions, many emerging-payments companies are seeking a warmer welcome outside the U.S.

SmartMetric Inc. says it is in the “advanced development” stages of a plastic payment card that will unlock through a fingerprint scan and operate as a digital wallet.

With a new CEO and an infusion of private equity funding, Cynergy Data plans to grow both organically and through acquisitions.

Fraud schemes that rely on social engineering and other attacks to steal sensitive information are especially dangerous this time of year, when the hustle and bustle of the holiday season may lead consumers to let their guard down and skimp on security.

MasterCard Inc. and PayPal have positioned themselves as companies with “the best current opportunities in the payment space,” according to Morningstar Financial Services.

When Isis launched its mobile wallet nationwide in November, it also launched a new interface. PaymentsSource journalists give their first impressions of the new payments method.

If consumers were worried about a government shutdown or stalled debt ceiling talks affecting the economy, they didn’t show it by holding off on credit card spending in October, a First Data Corp. report indicates.

Mobile point of sale terminals are projected to reach 46% market penetration by 2017, up from the 17% share of the point of sale terminal market that mobile systems held in 2012, according to a whitepaper by Mobey Forum.

The number of credit cards issued by banks and retailers hit five-year highs between January and August, according to the latest Equifax National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

Vodafone Group marked the launch of its European mobile wallet initiative in Spain, revealing plans to expand it into Germany next month and other parts of Europe early next year.

Electronic payments provider ACI Worldwide inked a nine-year extension to service 24,000 ATMs across the U.K. for VocaLink, the country’s payment infrastructure provider.