Prepaid cards

In its digital payments strategy, American Express is placing more bets on cash. The card network plans to add a free cash reload option for its Serve prepaid digital wallet, reducing its reliance on Green Dot's MoneyPak reload cards. Amex is also adding several features that broaden the functions of the Serve account, and plans a $1 monthly fee that can be waived with direct deposits.

To adapt to changes in the payments industry, Ceridian, a Minneapolis-based human resources, payroll and payment card company, has split its payments business from its human capital management unit.

Synchology's Branded Payments Platform allows merchants to offer prepaid cards with their brands' loyalty and rewards programs.

Building on a new mobile payment gateway that MasterCard developed for Egypt, an Egyptian bank last week launched the Phone Cash mobile wallet for consumers.

Democratic lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren today demanded that eight U.S. banks produce information about agreements they may have with colleges to encourage students to use their products.

Shoppers in Poland are increasingly likely to buy fresh pierogi in Krakow or a bus ride in Gdansk with a prepaid card.

The prepaid card provider SpendSmart Payments Co., known for having Justin Bieber as its promoter, is expanding its business to serve the government market.

As Isis forges ahead with its nationwide launch — despite losing the active participation of two of its four issuer partners — it's becoming clearer that mobile may not displace credit cards as easily as it can displace prepaid and cash.

London-based electronic payments provider Ixaris will target the Middle East payments market through a partnership with e-commerce software provider 3omlti.

A substantial majority of payments in the U.S. and Canada are non-cash, placing the two countries close to being cashless, MasterCard reported Sept. 23.

Google made two drastic changes to its mobile wallet when it released an NFC-free version for Android phones and then, two days later, unveiled a version for the iPhone. What does the new Google Wallet look like on each device?

The Isis Mobile Wallet initiative has suffered a setback with Capital One and Barclays pulling out of current testing, but the Isis venture has just as many issuers staying on to fuel its upcoming nationwide launch.

San Francisco-area transit operators are launching a mobile website to manage the Clipper fare cards.

Youth oriented payments company SpendSmart has retained the Maxim Group to help it spot acquisition targets.

Kiind, a business-to-business rewards startup, is the latest to offer a gift card platform in which senders don't pay for the gift until the recipient uses it.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it will police employer usage of payroll cards to ensure workers don’t face hidden fees or other abuses.

The recent court ruling on debit interchange fees should remind the payments industry how harmful the Durbin amendment is.

Cloud payment processor and mobile commerce vendor i2c Inc. is providing the technology for Boom Financial's entry into Haiti with its text-messaging money transfer service.

PreCash Inc. has launched Evolve Money, a consumer-facing online and mobile application that allows cash-paying users a way to pay and track their bills.

Mobile financial services company Paymobile has partnered Rovio Entertainment to provide an Angry Birds prepaid Visa card for Canadians.