Retailers

China's UnionPay hopes to boost its reach in Italy by about a third, and has turned to local Italian acquirer Nexi to increase acceptance of UnionPay cards in stores and e-commerce.

By making sure their payment processing solution is compliant, they can save themselves the hassle of declined payments and make sure they’re capitalizing on the expansive European e-commerce market, writes Ralph Dangelmaier, CEO and board member at BlueSnap.

The key to capturing young consumers is flexibility and choice at the point of sale, says Michael Rouse, chief commercial officer at Klarna.

Targeting consumers with poor or thin credit, Amazon is offering a secured card with rewards on par with those offered to mainstream cardholders.

Coffee and doughnut shops such as Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme have been at the forefront of mobile payments, and this technology could soon develop into a completely cashierless experience.

As banks seek to innovate, executives should accept that ignorance and mistakes are part of the process.

Retailers can control traffic flow and simplify payments and checkout, writes Scott Reese, chief technology officer at Harbor Retail.

When it comes to digital-native shoppers, it’s more than just understanding how their expectations have changed. These expectations are tied to emotional factors that influence buyer behavior, says Michael Rouse, chief commercial officer at Klarna.

Companies must be more prepared to defend user data from malicious outsiders, or suffer the consequences of lawsuits, sanctions from data privacy laws, decreased user trust, tarnished brand reputation, damaged investor relations and more, writes Ben Goodman, vice president of global strategy and innovation at ForgeRock.

Digital consumers and merchants are born as well as made. Payments play a key role in driving simpler, smarter and more customized experiences, writes Stefan Merz, COO of PPRO.

ChargeAfter, a startup that matches retail customers with financing options at the point of sale from various lenders, has raised $8 million in its first major funding round.

Purpose Financial has agreed to purchase CreditGenie Inc. as payment companies face pressure to offer point of sale financing.

Elavon is partnering with online store software company ePages to meld online and in-store technology for small to mid-size retailers in the U.K. and Ireland with other markets to follow.

Many kiosk manufacturers focus on cost and manufacturing efficiencies, placing little to no emphasis on experience architecture — where the physical meets the digital in design and engagement, writes Scott Reese, chief technology officer at Harbor Retail.

Large U.S. financial institutions converting their credit and debit portfolios to contactless technology this summer are betting that transit agencies like New York shifting to open-loop NFC will help drive mass adoption.

Insecure software development and insufficient use of security best practices creates significant risk for both consumers and commercial organizations alike, writes Carl Wright, CCO of AttackIQ.

If cryptocurrency is on its way to becoming a mainstream payment method in the U.K., it will be due to an increased appetite from major card networks for forming alliances with leading cryptocurrency providers.

Mastercard is making a niche play in the hot point of sale financing market, teaming with Dividio and lastminute.com to offer installment loans at checkout.

Improvements in digital receipts should be enough to spur greater adoption, argues Mike Golebiowski, president of IBT.

Amazon.com Inc. has launched many brick-and-mortar experiments in the past few years: bookstores, grocery pickup kiosks, cashierless convenience stores. Yet none of these have shown as much promise as the e-commerce giant’s unlikely partnership with Kohl’s Corp., the very definition of an old-school retailer.