Payments

PayPal, having long ago charted the state-by-state regulatory waters for U.S. payments companies, is urging a reform to the rules in an effort that could ultimately help other players in its market.

Stockholm's homeless magazine vendors no longer need to ask if you can spare any krona. They take cards.

Digital content providers will have more options to accept payments through Live Gamer Inc.'s Pay+ product.

Wells Fargo, which was one of the first banks to offer mobile banking apps to business customers in 2007, has been making some updates. The site allows clients to divide tasks across different people — one person might initiate a payment template, another person may make a payment for that template, and a third might approve the payment, for instance.

Intuit is experimenting with payments applications for Google Glass, smartwatches and fitness bands.

Payfone Inc., a provider of mobile- phone security, is raising $10 million from Early Warning Services LLC, a provider of fraud-detection tools for banks and financial-services companies.

Optimal Payments Plc, which is based in Isle of Man, has registered with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to provide services to Internet gambling businesses licensed by New Jersey.

WePay is enjoying strong volume in crowdfunding payments, and is keeping an eye on regulatory developments that may affect its next opportunities.

Hong Kong-based MPayMe has every intention of taking its Znap mobile commerce app to the U.S., but doesn't want to be categorized as just another mobile payments option.

The payments industry is facing pressure from outside companies that are toppling many preconceptions about how payments should work. But industry veterans are fighting back, and they shared their strategies at SourceMedia's 2013 ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum.

Prepaid card service provider InComm has launched a new product that enables payment companies to deliver loyalty, mobile wallet and coupons without a reliance on hardware.

CU Wallet has added 10 new credit union partners since the initiative's September unveiling, for a total of 25 credit unions representing 3 million members across 17 states.

Flint has raised $6 million to expand its staff and boost development of its mobile payments application.

LevelUp is launching a "connected app" technology that lets merchants tap into its mobile payment system for online commerce and a variety of other uses.

The newest member of the European Union (as of July), the Republic of Croatia is also relatively new to Near Field Communication-based mobile payments, which the nation's transit and mobile companies began publicly testing this year.

Fourty-four percent of American consumers have chosen not to sign the back of their payments cards, instead writing “see ID” or leaving it blank, according to a study sponsored by Jumio and conducted online by Harris Interactive.

As the market for prepaid cards expands and diversifies, many companies are experimenting to see what works — and in the process, they are learning that a product-based mindset could hold them back.

Mobile payments company Fortumo is adding technology that allows Chinese software developers to expand overseas.

Virtual Piggy, which offers an online alternative payment system for teens, will run a developers event for participants up to 19 years old in Los Angeles on Dec. 7.

Banks and payments companies are trying to develop new technology for customers' evolving needs, including person-to-person payments. But many of these new innovations must measure themselves against Square and its success. Daniel Wolfe, Editor-in-Chief of PaymentsSource, reports from SourceMedia's ATM, Debit and Prepaid Forum.