POS and Retail

Despite some mixed signals, the Chinese government has shown a willingness to loosen restrictions on imports. That would be good news for international payments players.

The company is diversifying from its traditional payments processing business into a broad-based provider of payments technology and data services.

As security threats increase, companies are placing more emphasis on safety and less on speed for new initiatives.

Companies that allow merchants to quickly set up card acceptance through mobile technology are rushing to fill a void in the Indian market following the country's dramatic shift in cash policy.

Final is a combination of a virtual and plastic card that brings an 'as-a-service' model to card issuance.

The speed of the crooks and the threat to retailers and customer data is more than enough reason to get aggressive with new identity protections.

The software allows chip card terminals to be operable much faster than with full certification. In other markets outside the U.S., semi-integration is widely used.

Bank earnings could be hurt this year as big retailers close stores and file for bankruptcy. The situation has sparked a debate about how much CRE and C&I books will suffer just as lenders were putting other commercial woes behind them.

Harland Clarke's acquisition of RetailMeNot provides a broader range of marketing technology to serve merchants that are looking to improve mobile-driven sales against competitors such as Shopkick and Foursquare.

Harbortouch seeks to add marketing services to its existing point of sale equipment line.

As mobile apps that allow consumers to order and pay before reaching the retailer expand, traditional hardware providers are rushing to adopt the technology, as evidenced by Ingenico's expanded Five Guys deployment.

The company's selling product that's similar to a store-branded card, but without the physical plastic. It hopes to appeal to small or midsize stores that don't want to run their own credit programs.

The company is touring the U.S. in a large truck that contains its latest point of sale technology for banks and merchants.

Both standards are confusing and not universally adopted. But both are a necessary baseline to protect merchants and payment companies.

Merchants are concerned emerging technology can't keep up with the growing online fraud threat. But there are some steps that can increase security.

Ingenico ePayments is giving merchants a new way to engage consumers at the checkout by offering a choice of games enabling participants to win merchandise instead of having to pay for it.

Shortly after spinning off PayPal, eBay shed another unit, the e-commerce powerhouse Magento Commerce, which is working to spread its wings beyond its core specialty of e-commerce sites.

Square is in talks to acquire Yik Yak, which operates location-based anonymous social network popular among college campuses, reports CNBC.

After launching a mobile pre-order and pre-pay app at Five Guys burger locations in Paris and Madrid, Ingenico ePayments is preparing to make the system available at the chain's restaurants throughout Europe in the coming months.

As digital and mobile capabilities have taken hold on payments and data security, acquirers and independent sales organizations have needed to quickly ramp up their tech knowledge.