Payments

In its continuing expansion of the Visa Ready faster certification program, the card brand is targeting technology companies that develop software for Visa's business-to-business payments services.

This morning it was announced that Fiserv is to acquire UK mobile payments veteran Monitise for 70 million pounds ($88.72 million). This is quite a bargain considering that at its peak, Monitise was valued at around 2 billion pounds. But beyond the firesale price tag, what exactly does Fiserv get out of this?

Payments professionals have done too little to leverage transformational changes in technology to improve the overall client experience.

So far, the use cases for digital payments from connected cars seem too specific to spark a widespread shift in consumer habits. But connected cars may yet prove to be drivers of change.

Due in part to the U.S.'s lackluster adoption of contactless cards, mobile wallets had a slow and difficult time gaining hold among consumers and merchants that were unfamiliar with the tap-and-pay process or didn't have the right technology. The opposite problem plagues Canada, where contactless cards are so widely used that mobile adds little value.

The financial institution-owned person-to-person network formally went live Monday, enabling direct transfer of funds across 30 U.S. FIs. There are a lot of questions around whether it can compete with the current kings of P-to-P — Venmo and PayPal — but Zelle may not be aiming to take them head-on just yet.

At its core, PayPal remains sharply focused on digital payments. But like other payments providers and processors during what has been a renaissance period for payments technology, the San Jose-based company has had to reinvent itself to keep firm control of its role.

The bank-owned person-to-person network formally went live Monday, enabling direct transfer of funds across 30 U.S. financial institutions. There are a lot of questions around whether it can compete with the current kings of P-to-P — Venmo and PayPal — but Zelle may not be aiming to take them head-on just yet.

This morning the bank owned P-to-P network, Zelle, is formally going live, enabling direct transfer of funds across thirty U.S. financial institutions over the course of the next twelve months. There are a lot of questions around whether it can compete with the current kings of P-to-P — Venmo and its parent company PayPal — but Zelle may not be aiming to take them head-on just yet.

There is an expanding array of choices to reduce paper checking, add speed and reduce cost from billing.

International payments and risk-based services provider INTL FCStone says its London-based global payments division will become a non-bank participant in Swift's global initiative to improve the cross-border transaction landscape.

Grocery shopping may not seem conducive to e-commerce due to the category's massive cart sizes and perishable goods, but many companies are trying to put a digital spin on the process. Here are a few of the latest innovations.

Hoping to convince e-commerce merchants to let Facebook target offers to customers, the social media giant is placing a strong emphasis on “dynamic ads” that include payment buttons.

ExxonMobil's contactless and mobile payment system, Speedpass, is well known as a way to help drivers accelerate the payment process after they fill up on gas. The system's latest updates focus less on the payment process and more on flexibility and rewards.

The agency recently sent a letter to nine banks urging them to stop offering deferred interest cards, arguing that consumers are often unaware of the risks involved.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares rose the most in almost two-and-a-half years after forecasting sales growth that topped every analyst’s estimate, defying expectations that growth must slow by dint of a decelerating economy and its own sheer scale.

Credit card usage began expanding with the economy, and Walmart wants to ride that wave with several enhancements to its own credit cards, including near-instant access to newly issued credit accounts within its mobile payments app.

The username and password are dying. Only biometrics can unify the age-old opposing forces of user experience and digital security in replacing an antiquated method.

Many companies in the payments industry see B-to-B transactions as ripe for modernization, and Mastercard is no exception. Its recent participation in a $300 million funding round in AvidXchange enables a new approach to this market.

Physical cash is likely to have utility for years to come. If it passes away, better the death blow comes from superior commercial payment systems than government edict.