POS and Retail

Grocery stores are well-oiled machines, with the placement of every product carefully researched to guide the shopper from one item to the next. But even this process has some room for improvement.

Finding the right mPOS solution can be difficult. Demanding flexibility and device agnostic technology from partners can go a long way toward making a successful decision.

Smart contracts, which automate parts of payment agreements, are the key to using blockchain technology in complex financial transactions. However, there are still open questions and concerns about how smart contracts operate in the real world and whether they can be trusted.

Nostalgia no doubt helped drive the recent Pokémon Go phenomenon, but another factor — one that will become critical to retailers’ future success — was also at play.

Even though studies are showing that an increasing number of users are giving the mobile wallet technology a try, only a few are reported to be using it on a continuous basis.

At most merchants, mobile wallets have been a solution in search of a problem. But at the pharmacy, every customer already has a problem — possibly several problems — they want to address before they even think about how they want to pay.

Two years after eschewing Apple Pay and NFC, CVS is integrating payments, marketing and prescription ordering in a single bar code-enabled mobile app, replacing a customer experience that currently relies heavily on time-consuming interactions with staff.

From the buzz in the technology press over the last two weeks, one might think that end times are nigh in the world of authentication.

Walmart Pay has been available nationwide at Walmart stores for several weeks, but consumers haven’t taken much notice — a foreboding sign for those hoping for a breakthrough with merchant-branded mobile payment apps.

Square Inc. is joining with restaurant technology startup Upserve to offer loans to eating establishments, extending credit for the first time to businesses that operate outside of its own payments processing system.

The sooner you and your organization can understand the potential impact, risk, and uses for blockchain, the better your chances will be of keeping your head above water.

Three quarters of debit cards will have chips by the end of the year, but slow merchant adoption is limiting use, according to Pulse.

The proliferation of smartphones and the onset of mobile payments has brought biometrics to the forefront of security for financial transactions.

In a reversal of its longstanding aversion to Apple Pay, Walmart has acquired a company that not only accepts Apple Pay, but gives customers an incentive of 1.5% off the purchase to use a debit card loaded into Apple's mobile pay system.

The National Australia Bank will partner with digital identity proofing company iSignthis to provide advanced card services to merchant customers in Australia and New Zealand.

Walmart Stores Inc. agreed to buy e-commerce startup Jet.com Inc. for about $3.3 billion, giving the world’s largest retailer the resources for a stronger shopping website to compete with market leader Amazon.com Inc.

Merchants using BlueSnap payments technology to power e-commerce and mobile checkout will have Visa Checkout as a payment option for customers.

Once fraud has been detected and a customer’s usual payment mechanism is broken, what happens next to ensure that customer remains happy and loyal?

The loyalty key fobs that reside alongside car and house keys on a chain is rarely discussed in the plastic card market, but has nonetheless undergone a revolution in recent years. Certainly in the U.K., their popularity has soared.

Payments technology is rapidly changing, but so is the broader environment for retailers, creating a need for flexible and diverse payment acceptance options.