Payments

Even as investors are lured by their price gains and volatility, the biggest institutions are reluctant to get in, raising further concerns about liquidity.

Alipay and WeChat Pay have become important drivers in the Chinese economy, putting the central bank in a position to force all third-party payment firms to connect to the new clearinghouse.

Both merchants and consumers still see the act of making a payment as a barrier and again look to technology to enhance the experience, writes Chris Koide, senior advisor and vice president of financial services for Bambora North America.

With this year's iPhone announcement getting closer, more rumors are spreading about how Apple plans to overhaul the way its phones handle payments. Some of these have already been confirmed by Apple; others are leaking in code the company has released.

Banks are being pushed into the background of popular digital experiences. But they can reappear on interfaces that customers use daily by doubling down on financial wellness efforts.

Security companies are using technology to stop more complex fraud based on a smaller amount of data, and investors are taking notice.

The ability to expedite information with payment, specifically remittances, is the real challenge, writes Mike Fortmann, vice president of Southwest Region for NVoicepay.

Bank of America is readying a premium credit card that boosts the rewards customers may earn based on funds kept in savings and investment accounts at the bank.

Usernames, passwords, device authentication and even biometrics have vulnerabilities. Behavioral identity is much harder for crooks to crack, writes Robert Capps, a vice president at NuData Security.

For issuers, higher online and mobile conversion rates should translate to increased payment volume transacted on their cards, but it opens up a new avenue for intense jockeying over top of wallet status, writes Michael Jabbara, director of digital development markets for Visa.

With close to 900 million monthly active users, WeChat is the most popular social app in China, supporting real-time messaging, social networking, e-wallet and many other functions, writes Franklin Chu, managing director for Azoya USA.

The difference between regular credit card applicants and fraudsters is experience — scammers know their way around an application form.

Ten years ago the global financial crisis began with subprime mortgage problems in the U.S.; the more you have, the more you get.

Companies and staff should not spend time doing manual work tied to T&E , writes Sunny Manivannan, general manager of Coupa Expenses.

UPS Capital has launched an online business-to-business payments service that will allow transactions licensed by escrow in a matter of minutes, rather than using a letter of credit or other options that can take up to two weeks to complete.

U.S. consumer credit-card debt just passed an ominous milestone, beating a record set just before the global financial system almost collapsed in 2008.

One of the biggest hurdles that all cryptocurrencies first face is merchant acceptance. Without it, consumer adoption is constrained.

Even as mobile payments at the point of sale have been slow or even faltering, as most research indicates, use of mobile for making large money transfers is climbing.

Digital blockchain tokens can be naked instruments for profit-sharing among investors, but other types are directly linked to building network infrastructure. Their creation and sale must be unimpeded by regulation.

Asia’s much-vaunted tech stocks could be getting ahead of themselves.