POS and Retail

It's been an eventful year so far in the payments industry. Exciting new technologies, dramatic executive turnover and ongoing courtroom drama have defined 2013's first six months.

Square Inc. has hired Gokul Rajaram to head software development for the Square Register app as the company's Product Engineering Lead.

Merchants are expressing concern about the U.S. transition to EMV-chip payment cards because of what they view as technical challenges and industry politics.

Tablet point of sale technology provider Revel Systems has raised $10.1 million in expansion capital that it will use to increase staff as well as open new offices in Asia and Europe.

Small business online service provider Web.com has incorporated MasterCard's digital wallet, MasterPass, into its offerings, enabling MasterCard to dramatically and quickly expand MasterPass' merchant base.

Square Inc. now allows its merchants to establish an online store through the Square Register app.

Choosing the right technology vendors can differentiate independent sales organizations and provide a competitive advantage.

Square Inc. is active in the U.S., Canada and Japan — and a recent post to its Twitter account indicates its next move is imminent.

Barclays has introduced a new feature on its Pingit person-to-person money transfer application that brings retailers in the U.K. into the mobile payments fold.

Intuit now lets iPad owners who use its GoPayment mobile card reader scan credit and debit cards with the tablet's built-in camera.

Ingenico SA will provide the contactless payment terminals that Banco Nacional de Mexico, or Banamex, plans to make available for up to 30,000 retailers in Mexico.

Iyzi Payments has raised $1.4 million from a group of undisclosed angel investors, and it will use the funds to build a new payments platform in Turkey.

The Mississippi Department of Revenue is providing its agents with mobile devices to accept credit or debit cards for tax payments.

New nonbank companies entering the payments industry should be subject to the same regulatory oversight and transparency requirements as their financial institution peers, according to a report released by the American Bankers Association.

Mobile payments companies and retailers will forge more partnerships where they retain customer identities, making it unnecessary to re-enter credit-card information, said John Collison, co-founder of Stripe Inc.

Online restaurant reservation provider OpenTable Inc. has acquired mobile payment startup JustChalo Inc. for $11 million.

Punchey's tossing its hat into the mobile payments ring with a mix of mobile card acceptance, social network-driven marketing and other services designed for merchants that handle larger payments.

BuyReply, an Australian startup, is going back to the basics in allowing consumers to purchase items from television and magazine advertisements by sending just an email or a text message — no special hardware or software required.

Eight months after giving the Project Oscar mobile commerce initiative a new name — Weve — and a new mission in the U.K., the telco joint venture has given its first hints of launching a Near Field Communication mobile payments service.

Retailers should embrace a hybrid approach to mobile shopping with wallet apps that bridge the physical and digital consumer experiences.