Payments

Venmo is not a moneymaker for PayPal yet, but that's not stopping the online and mobile payments giant from dreaming big about where its P2P service is headed.

Just as Silicon Valley companies are happy to supply their employees with millions of dollars in free meals and snacks at the office to supplement incomes, many Chinese companies are similarly, indirectly liberal outside the office, around expenses, writes Josh Anish, director of marketing at AppZen.

The U.S. has long lagged in contactless payment adoption — despite aggressive efforts to bring the technology to market years ago — but there’s finally signs of a turnaround as more consumers and merchants get on board.

Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said the company's earnings, though solid, could suffer if if politicians in Washington and London don’t resolve their biggest issues.

A strong holiday shopping season was enough to save the day for Visa Inc.

Wall Street’s expectations for PayPal Holdings Inc. last quarter proved a little too optimistic. The company’s sales failed to meet analyst estimates, a rare miss after years of growth.

The deal between the U.S. bank and the U.K. software firm adds another potential payments rival for Swift, and the two companies will offer banking APIs to U.S. fintechs.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is testing a link between e-commerce and trading platforms within its Global Payments Innovation network, with the first trial taking place on the Corda blockchain platform.

Apple's recent smartphone revenue decline contrasts with strength in wearables and services, making these alternative venues increasingly important to Apple Pay's continued success.

Given the competitive nature of the current marketplace and the low probability that interchange rates will actually go up, issuers and processors need to continually evaluate their infrastructure, writes Steve Gilde, director of global product marketing for Paragon Application Systems.

Visa for years has used its sponsorship of the Super Bowl to promote contactless and mobile payments, but it hasn’t squeezed cash out of the event yet.

Apple has strived to portray Apple Pay as the trusted, go-to mobile payment option for its customer base, but the company's own security problems have undermined this effort.

Stadiums, arenas and theaters are natural fits for innovations such as social P2P, mobile commerce and transferrable authentication. This, in turn, makes such venues a magnet for the payments industry’s most recognizable brands.

There’s no reason for the central bank to prohibit nonbank financial firms from entering the payments system as long as appropriate rules are put in place to protect against risk.

Uber is expanding its rewards to cover more U.S. cities, yet the program continues to stay complicated and stingy — consumers may need to spend up to $500 on eligible rides and Eats purchases just to get a $5 Uber Cash reward.

Instead of investing in contactless cards, financial institutions should focus on moving their offerings to mobile — into apps that can do more than money management, argues Mehmet Sezgin, CEO and founder of myGini.

Auto lending in particular was a strong area for institutions in both states.

Mastercard is making another run at getting a license to operate in China, though China's changing regulatory posture has created skepticism about its willingness to open its market.

Discover and Garmin International are partnering to allow Discover cardholders the ability to make contactless payments through Garmin Pay on various fitness smartwatches.

Mobeewave, a provider of in-person contactless payment acceptance software, is getting an investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation that pushes a recent Series B funding round led by NewAlpha, Mastercard and Forestay Capital to nearly $20 million.