Retailers

Square's merchants have shown early interest in cryptocurrency payments, and if merchants accept this new concept, it could exist along with other Square services to support numerous use cases, including broader financial services.

The future of brick and mortar retail is somewhere in the swamps of Jersey. Buried beneath a virtual sea in a place once called Xanadu is an underwater version of New York, a nautical Times Square where marquees scream “Piranha of the Opera,” and “Krill Grill.”

The concept can enable chargeback abuse, and if this “blind-eye” approach continues to dominate, the bad behavior will only get worse, says Chargeback 911's Monica Eaton-Cardone.

After a decline, fraud has recently spiked. But there are measures companies can take to stay ahead of the crooks, says Nvoicepay's Alyssa Callahan.

New smartphones have subtle differences that require more complex security solutions, says Fingerprints' Ted Hansson.

Last week, Indian regulators ordered an antitrust probe of Walmart and Amazon while Jeff Bezos and other Amazon execs traveled to New Delhi to tout a $1 billion investment to digitize local businesses. The message is U.S. investment is welcome, as long as U.S.-driven data mining is kept at bay.

Criminals will react to the EU legislation by changing their modus operandi, says Nets' Sune Gabelgard.

The ransomware attack chain uses a number of methods to infect an organization's systems, which can easily bypass an entire organizational security framework in seconds, according to Exabeam's Richard Cassidy

The National Retail Federation's annual conference, taking place this week in New York, is home to many innovations that could change the way merchants accept payments.

Sophisticated attacks will show lower volume in many cases but attempt to emulate user behavior, says NuData Security’s Robert Capps.

Shopify has provided merchant cash advance services for the last three years for established online retailers, but newcomers with no transaction history typically were turned away.

Data privacy regulations may be improving, and tech companies may now be forced to be more transparent about their practices, but the fact remains that vast quantities of personally identifying information are already out in the wild, says TRUSTID's Patrick Cox.

In the near future, payments will be part of the shopping experience itself. Technology that lets customers pay in the fitting room – or automatically, as they walk out of a store – will likely become an everyday reality, says Wirecard's Susanne Steidl.

By linking your POS to inventory management software, you can easily keep an eye on the amount of product you have and note when it’s time to restock or purchase from your distributors, says Bank of America Merchant Services' Sydney Ivey.

The recent explosion of online shopping tools pointing users to the lowest prices for items — particularly on Amazon — appears to be making the e-commerce giant nervous.

A strong economy in 2020 could lift the small-business card market, which is an important source of lending and payments for entrepreneurs and local merchants.

Banks can remain competitive in a more crowded field by offering attractive rewards through easy-to-navigate, secure microsites, says Informa Financial Intelligence's Gina DeCorla.

Oklahoma lawmakers' decision last month to drop the state's surcharging ban was yet another signal that U.S. merchants have the final say in whether to apply extra charges to credit card transactions to offset interchange fees.

Though many merchants remain wary of alienating their customers with fees, others now see an opportunity to recoup the growing costs associated with accepting plastic.

Most banks already have the means to communicate directly with customers, in the form of a mobile banking app or email. It’s just a matter of putting those channels to good use. Targeted discounts and perks reduce shopping costs, and therefore customers’ stress, says Flybits' Justine Melman.