Payments

The Australian state of Queensland has selected Cubic Corp. of San Diego to develop a mass-transit ticketing system that will support contactless payments and real-time rider account information for public transportation in the region surrounding Brisbane.

PayPal is spending billions on M&A to throttle the heightened competition it faces from the likes of Square and Stripe.

The online lender wants to provide instant payments and securitizations alongside instant loans, according to CEO Anthony Noto.

Mobile and digital technology are expanding use cases for reloadable prepaid cards beyond their heritage as a tool primarily for the unbanked consumers. Furthermore, mobile commerce is driving broader acceptance of digital versions of both prepaid and retail gift cards.

The move from standard to real-time transactions adds another layer of complexity and creates further opportunities for fraudsters. Quicker transaction times increase the chances of fraudulent transactions going undetected, writes David Worthington, vice president of payments at Rambus.

Paysafe Group has introduced a cash-based online payment mechanism for people who don’t have bank accounts or don’t use cards online due to security concerns. The U.K.-based payments services provider is also expanding its presence in the U.S.

PayPal can combine its payment service, Braintree and Hyperwallet for a variety of use cases for online marketplaces and gig economy workers.

Nets will bring its payments technology reach into Poland through its $85 million acquisition of Dotpay/eCard.

Rather than focus on credit history, San Francisco-based Brex Inc. looks at funding raised in order to issue cards to companies and employees to cover startup expenses.

Payment processors have increasingly become full-service providers from equipment to security measures and, most recently, some mobile and omnichannel options.

Scan-and-go payments and other mobile technology can redirect store resources toward more personal service to keep consumers in stores, according to Julian Wallis, retail director at Rambus.

London-based TransferWise's business model has been to undercut traditional banks’ foreign transfer fees, and the company's marketing has long emphasized its role as a plucky rival to banks — going so far as to invoke a comparison to Robin Hood. But the company's offering can also benefit the banks that see value in making peace with an upstart.

Paytm, one of India’s most widely used mobile wallets, has added TV and games in an effort to keep users' eyes on its app as long as possible.

Western companies desperately want a chunk of China's vast domestic consumer payments market, though they may find themselves feeling lucky to be left out.

Lee Seung-gun’s parents told him to get his sanity checked when he quit his secure job as a dentist with the hospital arm of Samsung Group to found a mobile apps startup.

Longtime Starbucks boss Howard Schultz was so invested in the company's mobile payments strategy that he once stepped down from his day-to-day duties to focus his full attention on the tech initiative. Without his involvement, will Starbucks lose its edge in fintech?

As contactless cards continue their momentum in the U.K., new use cases are popping up for the tap-and-go technology.

As competition from the bank-powered Zelle mounts, the popular social P2P app Venmo is phasing out support for online payments in favor of its mobile app.

Microsoft is the latest to try to help a big retailer jettison cashiers — and the latest to discover how hard that is.

Going back to the debut of the free Square card reader, the mobile payments market has made fees — or the lack of fees — a major selling point.