Payments

Sibling rivalry can be fierce. While Visa Europe pushes its own technology for online and mobile commerce — setting the stage for Apple Pay in the U.K. — its brother VocaLink is readying the launch of Zapp, a payment system that that cuts the card networks out of the equation by directing purchases through bank accounts.

The check may not be in the mail. Today’s consumer uses an average of three different payment methods each month, from online to mobile to walk-in and yes, even the occasional check, according to Seventh Annual Billing Household Survey from Fiserv.

Community banking groups have recently struck referral deals with marketplace lenders that could add revenue in the short run, but they might be giving away potentially valuable data and customers in the process.

Square has boosted its technology capabilities while expanding its presence in Canada through the acquisition of Toronto-based Kili Technology Corp.

Apple Pay and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have a lot of appeal for banks looking to stay at the cutting edge of digital payments. But security and compliance risks are part and parcel of these innovations.

Banks can expect to incur higher costs in several areas during the implementation of a settlement agreement to improve the accuracy of credit reports. But they might benefit in the long run by getting better information on borrowers.

Planet Payment is working with Pay.On to leverage its international gateway products.

Yoyo, a QR code-based mobile wallet provider, is cutting through the noise to find a working strategy for its product.

Lucrative sale of a subprime lending unit. Big credit card deal. Clear business plan. It's looking like a good year for Citi — provided it passes the CCAR stress test this week and fills a key executive post.

Seeking a uniform process for card-not-present transactions in the Single Euro Payments Area throughout Europe, the European Payments Council has created a blueprint for an interoperable card and terminal infrastructure.

The European Parliament on March 9 voted in favor of capping interchange fees for domestic and cross-border transactions, a move that many European banks anticipated.

Few would dispute that the U.S. ought to move to a faster payment system. But the hurdles to modernizing the infrastructure are daunting, said participants in a panel at this week's Retail Banking 2015 conference.

Starbucks Corp. will expand its mobile- ordering service to four Western states, building on a test that lets customers in Portland, Oregon, transmit their requests for lattes and mochas before entering a store.

A lot of change in the payments business is unavoidable, such as EMV-chip cards and mobile commerce, so the high-tech card maker Stratos plans to replace its cards each year as part of a membership program.

Industry groups are urging the Pentagon to soften its proposed expansion of a rate cap on loans sold to service members, but banks face opposition from dozens of advocacy groups that favor tougher restrictions.

It is fitting that Apple CEO Tim Cook opened the Apple Watch presentation by showing off a Mickey Mouse watch face. The Apple Watch shares a lot more than its design sense with Disney's successful MagicBand wearables.

Digital money transfer company Xoom is working with the bank HBL to enable instant deposits in more Pakistani bank accounts.

James Anderson, senior vice president of shared platform services in the emerging payments group at MasterCard, has been "droning on" for nearly a decade about contactless payments. And the industry is finally catching up.

The 20 women we honor this year have advanced the pace of innovation, challenged competitors and fueled the creativity and ambitions of their colleagues.

The retail services market is flooded with Web-based developer tools that allow small businesses with little tech expertise to develop payment capabilities. But to companies like vCita, these toolkits are still too hard to use.