Retailers

Two watch sellers are diving into a pilot that will test whether social media and blockchain can power alternatives to Amazon and eBay for e-commerce sales, shopping, payments, risk management and marketing.

As Wall Street keeps a wary eye on Amazon.com Inc.’s possible foray into finance, Discover Financial Services’ new chief executive officer isn’t too worried about technology-based invaders.

Collaboration is a critical part of how we prevent cyberattacks from turning into breaches that put consumer payment card data at risk, writes Lance Johnson, executive director of PCI SSC.

As with many mobile apps and services, I think we underestimated the fragmentation issue. That includes consumers preferring different operating ecosystems, and also different versions of Android or iPhone hardware, according to Ankit Kumar, manager of digital payments and mobile financial services at Gemalto.

Global Payments hopes to strengthen its position among restaurant merchant acquirers by paying $415 million in cash for food services and software company Sicom Systems.

It could be tempting to pick the easiest pricing option to understand and move on. But other times, more complex pricing options can really help businesses save money, writes Angelo Grecco, chief business development officer for CardConnect.

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is partnering with Saxo Payments Banking Circle, a European B2B payments platform specializing in online cross-border transfers.

Even among the experts in the payments industry, people still use cash. Banks can't ignore this, according to Paul Amisano, senior vice president for enterprise digital and payments strategy at BB&T.

The Merchant Customer Exchange may not have succeeded, but there is still value to the concept that drove the retailer-driven wallet, according to Brian Crist, chief payments counsel at Uber.

If a merchant seeking to avoid credit card fees turned to cash discounting, it was at least partly because the other option — putting a surcharge on credit card use — was complicated and illegal in many states.