Payment processing

Visa and MasterCard have agreed to share their common application identifier technology, enabling EMV-chip based debit transactions to originate from a single application while allowing merchants a choice of networks for routing.

In the payments industry, point of sale technology has become the "hottest area" of interest for companies considering an acquisition, according to the investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Payments industry veteran Tom Dolan will head the new Canadian office for Total Merchant Services, the independent sales organization announced today.

Davis and Henderson's planned $1.2 billion acquisition of Harland Financial Solutions marks the Canadian technology developer's biggest push into the U.S. market and its first foray into payments processing.

Viableware wants to differentiate its restaurant payment system by targeting high-end establishments with technology that doesn't erase the personal interaction between patrons and staff.

Global Payments Inc. executives highlighted its strategic partnerships with PayPal Here in the U.K. and CaixaBank in Brazil as vital to its business in the coming year.

In what its president says could be a "watershed event" in the debate over EMV debit transactions, the Secure Remote Payment Council has softened its stance to welcome Visa and MasterCard applications on EMV-chip cards.

Vantiv's deal to buy Element Payment Services, combined with its purchase of Litle & Co. this year, accelerate the payment processor's move toward providing e-commerce and broader merchant services.

The U.S. should follow the model that worked for the U.K. in its "seamless, coordinated" transition to the EMV-chip card standard seven years ago, Auriemma Consulting Group states in a new report.

Groupon has modified its Breadcrumb POS mobile payments app to allow it to handle payments even when the wireless signal cuts out. It was no easy feat.

Visa CEO Charlie Scharf responded to the retailer-backed Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX)'s recent moves in mobile payments by pointing to the growth of Visa's V.me digital wallet, its penetration among merchants, and the fact that MCX's wallet still hasn't launched.

U.K.-based mobile point of sale company iZettle now charges a range of 1.5% to 2.75% based on the merchant client's monthly volume.

John Lunn, global director of the PayPal Developer Network, details the recommitment the company's made to building and maintaining third-party developer tools since David Marcus become president of PayPal in March 2012.

Banks face caps on the card fees they can collect on Visa Europe Ltd. and MasterCard Inc. transactions as the European Union seeks to slash charges imposed on retailers by 6 billion euros ($8 billion) a year.

Discover Chairman and CEO David Nelms emphasizes that the financial benefits of partnerships with companies like PayPal and Ariba will not come right away.

Total System Services, having completed its purchase of the prepaid card marketer NetSpend, has raised its full-year earnings guidance.

American Express Co. will be discontinuing its Deals and Offers program on the Serve digital wallet on August 12.

Shopkick now allows consumers to make purchases directly from its mobile app, which rewards consumers for visiting its merchant clients in-person.

Independent sales organizations can expect business to continue as usual with First Data Corp. despite new faces in top management at the Atlanta-based transaction processor.

TouchSuite says the cloud is the perfect place for salon owners to operate their point of sale systems.