POS and Retail

As Apple Pay launches Oct. 20, the new mobile wallet will be put to the test. It has the prestige of Apple and the participation of hundreds of card issuers, but it also faces several challenges that may be difficult to overcome.

A third of the veteran-owned businesses certified with the Veterans Administration are already First Data clients, and the processor is working to win over the other two-thirds.

American Express Co. is pulling new levers to build its business with small merchants and drive mobile wallet adoption, emphasizing its work with Apple Pay.

Apple and Samsung joined the Electronic Transactions Association this week, furthering the acquiring industry trade group's efforts to welcome technology companies as members.

The merchants and issuers invested in Apple Pay must maintain a strong emphasis on employee education — especially if the stakeholders want Apple's mobile wallet to avoid the fate of the many previous payment technologies that sought to displace plastic cards.

Total Systems Service has landed another user for its Prime 4 product, as Banco del Bajío of Guanajuato signed a licensing agreement to use the card and payments management system in Mexico.

GoDaddy Operating Co. Llc has made a series of payments technology deals that are designed to give merchants an incentive to remain with the online domain name registrar.

Pinnacle Corp. has partnered with Sionic Mobile to bring two emerging payments technology trends—beacon-aided transactions and tokenization—to thousands of Pinnacle's fuel retailers.

CardConnect, an independent sales organization of First Data Merchant Services, has hired payments veteran Scott Dowty as chief revenue officer.

Mobile payment platform P97 Networks and decoupled debit provider Zipline will collaborate on m-commerce products targeting merchant and fuel industry clients that face competitive pressure to adopt mobile payments.

Does the following thought process sound familiar? “The faster I can install this new point of sale (POS) system for this merchant, the better.” With POS systems, faster isn’t always better.

Mobile payment provider Powa is partnering with DataCap Systems to shorten the time it takes merchants to deploy mobile point of sale applications, a move the companies hope will provide differentiation in a crowded marketplace.

Providers of rapidly changing payments products such as prepaid cards, automated payments and dispute resolution are continuing to turn to independent sales organizations to reach targeted merchants.

Installment payment provider Klarna will share technology with e-commerce technology company Digital River as part of Klarna’s stategy to extend services to the U.S. and other markets.

ACI Worldwide is flexing its acquired bill payments technology muscle, inking a deal with financial technology provider Shaw Systems Associates Inc. that will allow Shaw's clients to expand loan payment options to their customers.

Wells Fargo Bank NA has joined a growing list of acquirers using an American Express program designed to help smaller merchants accept Amex card payments.

Hamstrung by low consumer and merchant adoption, multi-account cards are still a product in search of a market. But Stratos Inc. believes Bluetooth technology is the tonic that will lure users.

GoDaddy is partnering with online payments provider Stripe to entice small businesses to embrace e-commerce by adding faster credit approval and card acceptance.

EBay and PayPal were once rivals, but in 2002 they joined to become a single company. Since then, PayPal has worked to move beyond the confines of its parent's online auction site. It is now well prepared for its planned spinoff.

The recent exploit of Signature Systems terminals, used by Jimmy John's restaurants and other clients, shows that the point of sale is still a key target for hackers. And the addition of EMV-chip technology won't scare them off.