Payments

Rumors of an alliance between China's e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba and Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant Apple are heating up again — and are coming from a very high-placed source.

Federal and state regulators said that mobile telephone carriers Verizon Wireless and Sprint have agreed to settle allegations that they bilked consumers out of millions by allowing third parties to "cram" unauthorized charges onto their customers' bills.

Many lenders shy away from adjusting monthly payments based on struggling borrowers' income for fear of losing too much money, but the Education Department's expansion of such plans for student loans and new data-crunching products have reframed the longtime discussion.

U.S. consumers in the first quarter borrowed more to pay for education and automobiles, but overall their debt burden was relatively flat, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Square Inc. says it has received more funding for its Square Capital program, which grants loans to Square merchants based on their transaction history.

For many industries, the introduction of open standards has been a key driver for innovation. The rapid evolution of the internet and online services offer a vivid example of the degree to which open standards can enable immense innovation and growth.

Latin America is becoming a must-have market for mobile payments, replete with fast growing m-commerce adoption and card network investment.

Google's Android may have more smartphones in circulation, but Apple's iPhone is responsible for the bulk of the spending from mobile wallets.

As many companies scramble to find the winning formula for mobile payments, they are coming to market with distinctly different ideas. It's still not clear what the best tactic should be, but a few mistakes stand out as lessons for others.

As big retailers like Walmart are more actively pushing consumers away from signature-based transactions to PIN-based transactions, credit unions stand to lose precious interchange income. But industry insiders suggest CUs may have some tricks up their sleeve to mitigate this challenge.

CO-OP Financial Services on Thursday said it will offer a subsidy to clients switching to EMV cards that will total $9.1 million.

Card issuers, already fighting the threat of mobile wallet initiatives that draw funds directly from bank accounts, must now contend with a new partnership that makes carrier billing a more viable replacement for bank cards at the point of sale.

Munich-based payment company Wirecard AG will support the implementation and financial processes behind the launch of Orange Cash in Spain.

Swatch Group AG will introduce a model that can make mobile payments around July or August, which will give Apple Inc.'s smartwatch more low-price competition.

While PayPal deals with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau probes related to its consumer credit products, one of the company's founders is forging ahead with a company he created to develop its own consumer credit service for e-commerce.

NEW YORK — The October deadline for shifting EMV liability may still be months away, but even with several years of lead-up time, there is widespread skepticism in the payments industry about whether the change will help combat fraud.

China's government plans to allow foreign card-payment networks to process domestic transactions. But companies like Visa and MasterCard will have a tough time capturing a percentage of China's explosive payments market.

In theory, all parties benefit when consumers have their choice of payment options, but the deluge of new technologies has led issuers to respond in ways that could create lasting frustration for consumers and merchants.

Kwik Chek Food Stores' new technology for updating gas prices at the pump also pushes those price changes to motorists using its mobile payment app, a feature that gets customers engaged with the retailer long before they pull up to the pump.

The Weve joint venture is breaking up, with Telefonica O2 buying out the U.K. telcos that joined it four years ago in planning a country-wide mobile payment system.