PHOENIX – Even though Apple has more than 500 banks lined up to support Apple Pay, including heavyweights like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, some bank executives are taking a decidedly defensive stance.

Regional bank executives are tinkering with ways to accelerate loan growth yet avoid risks that would alarm regulators.

Apple Pay launched this week with more than 500 supporting financial institutions, with the largest issuers in the group accounting for more than 80% of the debit and credit transaction volume in the USA.

MasterCard is determined to take its tokenization technology for Apple Pay and spread the security method to many other payment products, including the card brand's own MasterPass digital wallet.

Jumio Inc. has introduced BAM Checkout, putting together its identification and credit card scanning technology to streamline mobile payment acceptance.

Discover Financial Services rode loan growth in every segment of its consumer finance business to net income of $644 million in the third quarter.

PHOENIX – Banks need to convert their ATM fleets into modern financial services kiosks that become new profit centers because legacy payments systems are looking more out of touch with modern expectations.

PHOENIX – BBVA has had success in several markets with mobile wallets that blend Near Field Communication (NFC), loyalty and other technologies. But this week's launch of Apple Pay is challenging the bank to ensure its card app remains relevant.

MasterCard is partnering with Major League Baseball Advanced Media to bring contactless payment acceptance to ballpark food and beverage concessions at this year's World Series.

Banks are bound to confront knotty privacy questions as they strive to make smarter use of customer data and experiment with technologies like wireless beacons, geolocation and algorithm-recommended offers.

Google will enhance its verification system for accounts by supporting identity standards developed by FIDO (Fast Identity Online), an industry alliance that aims to increase operability between authentication technology systems.

A big part of the EMV migration is awkward for restaurants in the U.S., but Apple Pay may ease the discomfort, said Harbortouch CEO Jared Isaacman.

Staples Inc., the world’s largest office-supply chain, is investigating a potential breach of customer credit-card data, becoming the latest retailer to confront a threat from hackers in recent months.

The average annual cost of cybercrime to companies has nearly doubled in the last five years, a new report from a cybersecurity research firm says.

Apple enters the mobile wallet world in a stronger position than most of its rivals, largely because it sought the support of card networks and banks before the first Apple Pay transaction ever took place.

As the payments industry becomes increasingly commoditized, it faces new challenges. Among the biggest hurdles is how to keep customers loyal.

A few hours into Apple Pay's Oct. 20 launch, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised the company was not looking to exploit its payments data.

That's the verdict from many analysts after President Obama on Friday signed an executive order mandating the adoption of chip-and-PIN technology in government cards and enabled its use in facilities like Post Offices.

Bitcoin payments enabler Bitnet Technologies has secured $14.5 million in funding that it will use to fund a push into Asia and continental Europe.

Email payments company Klarna has enabled access to Compass Plus' open development platform in an effort to add speedy technology deployment to fuel an international expansion.