Retailers

Payleven is launching a new chip and PIN card reader that's capable of accepting Near Field Communication contactless payments, with the aim of cutting costs for European merchants.

Wine may improve with age, but point of sale technology does not. Years ago, when ShopKeep POS founder Jason Richelson operated the Green Grape wine store in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, he struggled so often with archaic point of sale systems that it motivated him to develop his own alternative.

London-based Flypay Ltd. plans to end what it refers to as the "10-minute restaurant bill chase" at the end of a meal by offering a mobile application that speeds up payment while providing more customer data to restaurant owners.

These 20 women have reached impressive heights in a traditionally male dominated industry and have played a vital role in helping their organizations stay ahead of the curve.

Digicash Payments, a Luxembourg-based mobile payments provider, is testing a system that uses a beacon at the point of sale to accept payments using Bluetooth, Near Field Communication and QR codes.

Micros, an international provider of checkout systems, is integrating Yapital Financial AG's cross-channel payment technology into its Micros POS systems.

Visa has hired Ramon Martin, who was previously with American Express, for the newly created job of global head of merchant sales and solutions. Visa also announced that Elizabeth Buse, who heads its global solutions group, plans to retire March 31 after 16 years at the company.

Contactless card payments are building a fan base in the United Kingdom, where their use has spiked in the past year, but the product is still a long way from replacing magnetic-stripe cards.

Preparing for a Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance assessment is a major task for any size organization.

McDonald's customers throughout Sweden can now pay for their meals with their phone using Seamless' QR code-based mobile wallet, SEQR, from within the McDonald's app.

First Data Corp. has appointed Frank Bisignano as the Atlanta-based company's chairman, adding to his role as chief executive officer.

The settlement of the Visa and MasterCard class action interchange swipe fee case has spawned a new type of company—the third-party claims filing company.

Beacons, or Bluetooth Low Energy transmitters, are seeing a burst in popularity as components of mobile payment systems. The devices, which can be roughly the size and shape of a nightlight, allow retailers to detect a mobile app user's presence in the store.

The Princeton, N.J.-based processor Heartland Payment Systems is moving its sales headquarters to a new building in Edmond, Okla.

The Electronic Transactions Association is lobbying Congress to enact a uniform national data breach reporting standard that would replace a welter of contradictory state and local rules.

A new loyalty feature in NCR Corp.'s Silver point of sale system for iPads aims to help small businesses develop and manage customer rewards programs.

Global Payments Inc. has completed its $420 million purchase of Payment Processing Inc., a provider of payments technology and services for smaller merchants.

Citadel EFT, a credit card processing firm, announced March 4 that it is exploring ways to allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to accept electronic payments from their customers.

Leaf, a provider of tablets for payments, has hired several executives including a director at Heartland Payment Systems, which recently invested in the startup.

Payments played a major role in the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Here are some of the biggest announcements that came out during the conference, and a few from just before or afterwards that were no less important to the mobile payments community.