Payments

Mastercard knows the more time consumers spend on their mobile devices—often deliberately blocking ads—the less likely they are to see its iconic “Priceless” ads, even if those ads support a charitable cause.

In many instances, mass transit systems have proven to be catalysts for adoption of new payment technology, starting with the genesis of contactless cards for access to buses and trains in Hong Kong and Japan in the late 1990s.

That’s because transaction-based loyalty programs that focus on discounting simply train customers to wait for coupons and incentives, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

Handle Financial’s online bill-payment service Prism has turned on a new feature enabling consumers to pay bills in real time from any of 11,000 U.S. billers via credit or debit cards, even when those options aren’t directly supported by the biller.

Despite millions spent on promotions and marketing for Apple Pay and other proprietary options from banks, mobile payments volume is still weak.

Having chargebacks have been a consistent thorn in merchants' sides for much of the past decade — and to make matters worse, while 82% of merchants say they actively dispute chargebacks, 24% have no idea what their win rate is.

Although some companies have started to integrate cross-channel marketing as a core element of their strategy, most still haven’t realized the opportunity at stake, writes Lisa Paccione, vice president of sales for Syniverse.

American Express has acquired artificial intelligence technology provider Mezi, which has powered the AskAmex application in the past to help card members find and book travel, dining and entertainment through messaging via iPhones.

Retracting an Obama administration policy that shielded banks servicing marijuana companies threatens financial firms and makes the pot industry too reliant on cash.

While there's lots of fintech innovation globally, some of the most exciting moves are coming from China, Japan and South Korea, writes John Mitchell, CEO of Episode Six.

About a decade after its launch, Cambodia-based mobile money provider Wing has added a virtual prepaid Mastercard to its platform, enabling its audience of unbanked and underbanked consumers to shop online.

Wirecard is working with Fortress GB on new payments technology that will enable fans of two U.K.-based football clubs to earn points and cash-back rewards when making purchases inside stadiums at sporting events — and will track their spending data to decide on future offers.

On Sep. 30, 2017. Dollars in thousands.

The company more than doubled the total number of transactions it performed for credit unions in 2016, driven in large part by its acquisition of TMG in April

While Zelle is working hard to become the Venmo for grown-ups, it is also pushing into retail payments, particularly in opportunities for displacement of cash and check and where funds are needed in minutes rather than days or weeks.

As organizations look to AP to take on more strategic planning, budgeting, and cash management activities, they have to use automation to get rid of the manual, repetitive, non-value-added tasks they’re doing now, writes Brent Meyers, vice president of national sales for Nvoicepay.

The U.S. may be undergoing a sea change in attitudes to contactless cards.

Digital assistants are increasingly commonplace, and the trend is pressuring merchants and issuers to figure out how to keep up with consumers' interest in conversational computing.

PayPal has been working to expand Venmo's audience beyond millennials for more than a year, a strategy that it hopes to further with instant transfers.

Starbucks has for some time been the poster child of mobile payments acceptance in the U.S., but even this success may be tapering off.