Payment processing

Bank of Ireland is rolling out what it claims is the first contactless Visa debit card from an Irish bank.

As a growing number of United Kingdom-based merchants adopt contactless payment technology as part of a broad regional effort leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games, specific retailers are seeing the technology’s benefits.

Wikileaks and Iceland-based data-hosting service DataCell ehf. say they will file a complaint on July 7 with the European Commission against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide if the payment companies continue to block their payment-processing.

Western Union Co. said Tuesday that it is buying the business payments unit of London-based Travelex Holdings Ltd. for 606 million pounds, or about $1 billion.

In an unintended consequence of the newly revised federal rules on cybersecurity, banks are likely to fare much worse in lawsuits over fraud losses.

Boku Inc. is about to make it easier for consumers to purchase virtual items that might help them better conquer laughing pigs with different kinds of birds on their mobile phones.

Online and mobile-payment startup Dwolla Corp. has been building a payment network called Grid that company executives believe to be more secure than MasterCard Worldwide’s and Visa Inc.’s card networks.

Bill-payment processor Tio Networks Corp. is making headway with its mobile bill-payment application.

In its first major play to connect its mobile-payments service with social media, Starbucks Coffee Co. on June 30 unveiled a mobile-payment application it developed in-house that consolidates the features of previous apps with links to enable users to send Starbucks gift cards via Facebook.

States’ efforts to rein in fly-by-night companies are starting to have an effect on some payments startups’ operations.

Those attending the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games may find paying for their cab rides will be a bit quicker and easier.

Technology vendor Fiserv Inc. is making a bold move to bolster its digital payments arsenal by shelling out $465 million to buy the smaller technology company CashEdge Inc.

MasterCard Worldwide has moved forward in its efforts to become a bigger player in Chinese payments industry under a new agreement with China UnionPay, the country’s national bank card association.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday suggested raising the debit interchange fee cap to 21 cents per transaction, but it gave banks a little bit of leeway to charge even more if they meet certain fraud prevention standards.

Yet another mobile-commerce venture is being formed, and this one could have some staying power, according to an analyst familiar with the deal.

Mobile-payments startup Square Inc.’s $100 million venture-capital avalanche announced June 29 could mean that the company’s transaction volume is gaining significant momentum despite its lack of profits, one analyst contends.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday suggested raising the debit interchange fee cap to 26 cents per transaction – more than double its initial proposal of 12 cents.

WASHINGTON — On the eve of the much-anticipated release of a final rule on debit card swipe fees, the lobbying group for retailers made a final plea that the Federal Reserve Board maintain its initial proposal of 12 cents per transaction.

In a move that could help stave off defection among its multinational customers seeking global commercial card capabilities, U.S. Bancorp on June 28 said its subsidiary Elavon Financial Services Ltd. soon will begin issuing commercial cards in Europe through a new processing agreement it inked with Total System Services Inc., or TSYS.

Citing “shortcomings” with the technology, Australia’s ANZ Banking Group Ltd. has halted development of a microSD iPhone case designed to turn a smartphone into a payment device.