Payment processing

The U.S. Supreme Court reinforced companies' power to funnel legal disputes into arbitration, ruling in favor of American Express Co. in an antitrust clash with retailers over the credit cards they must accept.

Online ticket payment provider Picatic has the business model of a museum—its customers are expected to pay, but the amount is at least partly up to the patron.

New nonbank companies entering the payments industry should be subject to the same regulatory oversight and transparency requirements as their financial institution peers, according to a report released by the American Bankers Association.

MasterCard and Western Union have launched an international payments service that allows small to medium sized U.S. businesses to execute cross border transactions.

Electronic payments company Ixaris, which has about 20 corporate clients using its Ixaris Payments Server, will target corporate prepaid card-issuing financial institutions with the same technology.

Xoom has developed native Apple and Android applications for its money transfer service.

Mobile payments companies and retailers will forge more partnerships where they retain customer identities, making it unnecessary to re-enter credit-card information, said John Collison, co-founder of Stripe Inc.

Stockholm-based iZettle is bringing its mobile card reader into Mexico.

NetSpend stockholders voted to approve the prepaid card marketer's acquisition by Total System Services, clearing the way for the payments processor to complete the deal in mid-2013.

Online restaurant reservation provider OpenTable Inc. has acquired mobile payment startup JustChalo Inc. for $11 million.

In the U.S., the only country converting to the EMV chip-card format with more than one debit network and a federal mandate that covers debit routing, the lingering uncertainty about how to code EMV payments “is pushing away many issuers and forcing them to wait” before offering cards, says Thomas Grouard Lillelund, senior manager of EMV and new technologies for CPI Card Group.

Wendy's International Inc. is beefing up the payment functions of its My Wendy's mobile app, which furthers the company's strategy and plays on other quick service retailer's success with mobile payments.

Core banking provider Computer Services Inc. (CSI) has introduced the Social Payments Instant Network, or SPIN, which supports person-to-person payments through mobile and online banking.

Amazon.com Inc. added a new payments system called the Amazon Birthday Gift, which allows users to send Amazon.com gift cards with birthday messages to friends on Facebook and allow other friends to contribute more to the card's balance.

Starbucks now receives over 10% of its U.S. transactions as mobile payments, and over 30% of its transactions are made with the mobile or plastic version of its Starbucks Card accounts.

Punchey's tossing its hat into the mobile payments ring with a mix of mobile card acceptance, social network-driven marketing and other services designed for merchants that handle larger payments.

For digital payments to flourish, they must get bigger — and bigger payments require stronger authentication.

BuyReply, an Australian startup, is going back to the basics in allowing consumers to purchase items from television and magazine advertisements by sending just an email or a text message — no special hardware or software required.

MasterCard Inc. and telco VimpelCom Ltd. are testing a Near Field Communication-based mobile payments service at a Russian bank.

Tristan O'Tierney, one of Square's team of co-founders is leaving the mobile payments company after four years.