WASHINGTON — Consumers with medical bills in collection can see their credit scores hit by as much as 22 points compared to those with other types of debt, according to a study released Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Visa Inc. has joined the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance's board of directors to help develop and deploy stronger online authentication standards.

Bank of America Corp. plans to allow new transaction types, such as corporate disbursements, to be made through the bank-led clearXchange person-to-person payments network.

Prepaid product and transaction services company InComm has launched a platform for mobile payments and commerce.

Jumio is working with the European Bitcoin exchange Safello to provide faster verification of customers.

Payments company BlueSnap is adding tax tools in an attempt to make it easier for e-commerce merchants to expand to more countries.

LAS VEGAS — The good news: CUs set a new record for lending origination volume in 2013. The bad news: that's still not good enough. The answer: it's time to figure out how to "steal market share."

WePay has increased its addressable market in the small-business sector by about 600,000 through a partnership with e-marketing and website design provider Constant Contact.

As consumers get more comfortable with biometrics, the technology could have more uses for payments and other financial transactions.

LifeLock Inc. has temporarily pulled its LifeLock Wallet app off the market to address security issues.

WePay's decision to halt a crowdfunding initiative for an adult film actress struck a nerve as payments companies are seen distancing themselves from people in the adult entertainment industry.

Old-school payments networks are looking for ways to speed their pathways. Tech companies are looking to blaze new trails. In the end, however, all roads lead back to one issue — security.

MoneyGram customers can now transfer money to Mexico in 30 minutes, which is nearly half the time it takes to send transfers to other Latin American countries.

Payments processor mopay is now offering an HTML5 in-app billing solution for online merchants doing business in India.

Groupon Inc. is expanding its in-store payments business with a new service that lets merchants identify customers with the company's coupons and enable them to pay for purchases using Apple Inc.'s iPad mini.

MasterCard has agreed to purchase Opus Software's electronic payment and card technology subsidiary ElectraCard Services.

Yapital Financial AG is seeking bank partners in Europe for its mobile payment app, but it's insisting on a long courtship.

Host Card Emulation technology, which allows mobile devices to emulate a secure Near Field Communication transaction, is catching on fast so fast that it would be unwise for any company to ignore it, says ABNote CEO Steven Singer.

Users of new technology often invite derision—Google Glass wearers are "Glassholes," iPhone devotees are "iSheep"—and mobile wallet users may soon be the next target of such ridicule.

Old-school payments networks are looking for ways to speed their pathways. Tech companies are looking to blaze new trails. In the end, however, all roads lead back to one issue — security.