Retailers

Some prominent mobile wallets today rely on NFC as the primary method of making payments. These include the mobile carriers’ Isis venture and Google’s mobile wallet. Others, such as PayPal, consider NFC optional. The mega-retailers’ Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) venture, which has yet to release a product, promises a software-based alternative to NFC, storing card data in the cloud and using bar codes to conduct transactions.

The acquiring industry's established players are concerned about tech companies entering the business, but they're doing something about it – often by joining forces with the new kids.

Ingenico SA agreed to offer Shift4 Corp.'s gateway offering as part of the French terminal maker's point-to-point encryption portfolio.

Bancsource Inc. is handling first-line and second-line maintenance of International Bank of Commerce's 313 Diebold ATMs in Texas and Oklahoma.

Groupon's push into the payments business continues with an update that brings its mobile card reader to Android phone users.

Acquirers consider the Payment Card Industry data security standards slightly more important as a source of revenue than as an approach to security, new survey data indicates.

Cezar Butu of Romania, who pleaded guilty to taking part in hacking terminals at hundreds of U.S. Subway sandwich shops from 2009 to 2011, was sentenced this week to 21 months in prison.

It's been more than two months since Lower Manhattan was engulfed by flood waters from Superstorm Sandy and many merchants are still without the ability to accept credit and debit cards.

The ZingCheckout iPad application is now available on the App Store with integration for PaySaber Clip, a USAePay mobile point of sale product.

AJB Software Design Inc. plans to announce Friday its participation in the Visa POS Solutions Program (VPSP), which AJB says could allow it to link Visa's digital wallet, V.me, to the point of sale.

Total Merchant Services announced today that it has acquired Fanminder, a social and mobile marketing company based in San Francisco.

In North America, QR code-based mobile payment apps from Starbucks and LevelUp generate a code for each user, and the merchant scans the code to accept a payment. In Brazil, PicPay is flipping the model and making the consumer scan codes presented by the merchant.

Payments and social media have had a rocky relationship. Many companies that have tried to blend the two have failed or been forced to change their business model. Gumroad Inc., a startup founded by a 20-year-old veteran of Pinterest, says it gets it right.

Madison Dearborn Partners is buying a minority stake in EVO Payments International LLC and helping to fund the acquirer's international expansion and other growth initiatives.

Merchant Warehouse has announced that Combase USA has been certified as an integrated partner with the Genius ITX Customer Engagement Platform.

It's going to be a big year for mobile payments. Now that several mobile wallets are in consumers' hands, the companies behind them are refining their products. What do Apple, Isis, Google, PayPal and others have in mind for the near future?

Google's initial launch of its mobile wallet at a special event in New York last year was a flashy affair meant to showcase every feature and every partnership. Its approach this year is much more low-key, as is that of its rival Apple.

If things are truly bigger in Texas, then mPowa CEO Dan Wagner figures it's a good place for merchants to be able to accept credit card payments via mobile devices in those wide, open spaces.

With many of its legal questions and organizational issues addressed, the Merchant Customer Exchange has turned its focus to the technology that will drive its mobile commerce initiative.

vPromos Inc. and Merchants' Choice Payment Solutions is making vPromos' vPunc Rewards program available to more than 50,000 merchants across the country.