Perhaps the biggest technology decision a credit union can make is undertaking a core conversion. While there are longstanding, brand-name providers in a market that has been seeing consolidation, new competition is emerging.

With the clock ticking for ATM owners to begin accepting EMV chip cards, BPC Banking Technologies plans to bring software to the U.S. to help banks navigate the complex conversion to smart-card technology on their ATM fleets.

Payment technology is gaining momentum and changing rapidly. More and more places around the world are adopting unique methods of payment.

The National ATM Council Inc. says MasterCard should delay its upcoming April 19 ATM liability shift deadline for its Maestro cards used at U.S. ATMs, based on the industry's slowness in deciding on a common code for EMV debit transactions to satisfy federal routing choice mandates.

The anonymous digital currency Bitcoin, which is already accepted on the Wordpress blogging site, has another mainstream partner. Reddit, the social news and entertainment site, now accepts bitcoins as payment for Reddit Gold, a subscription service.

Coinstar and PayPal are in the midst of a nationwide expansion of the integration they have tested since last May. The partnership allows consumers to use the change-counting kiosks to load, withdraw and send funds from their PayPal accounts.

Personal financial management provider Pageonce has added a person-to-person payments service to its mobile-focused software feature set.

Two companies that provide software for digital passes and coupons on Android and iOS devices say they have added Near Field Communication capabilities to allow consumers to redeem those passes by tapping together Android devices.

Celltick, which integrates mobile payments, targeted marketing and coupons via partnerships with payment providers such as telecoms, plans to target Europe and North America with a program that it contends will provide better customer retention than Groupon, which has embarked on its own mobile payments expansion to improve relationships with merchants.

Buck Corp. plans to target small merchants who send out paper invoices with a mobile invoicing system that will eliminate both the paper and the time it takes to wait for a mailed payment.

The Dunkin' Donuts iPhone app now integrates with Passbook, the software-based mobile wallet that stores payment cards and tickets from other mobile apps and typically relies on displayed bar codes for redemption.

The Currency Cloud says it has the answer for companies dealing with the costs of completing an international payment.

Growth is hard to come by in the credit card business, but major lenders are sticking with a smaller pool of customers with higher credit scores.

PayPal has attracted some big names to accept it at the point of sale, but it has a long way to go before its digital wallet is a part of everyday consumer life. A recent partnership with the fuel pump technology company Gilbarco Veeder-Root has the potential to change that.

Merchant service providers need to be aware that payment gateway technology is likely to provide answers to most of the questions merchants may ask when navigating the dizzying array of new payment rules and technologies.

While the U.S. inches toward adoption of the EMV chip-card standard, some card makers and issuers are finding they need to move faster than others.

CHIPLEY, Fla. – Community South CU has signed with MShift to offer its members mobile banking services, including mobile browser banking and downloadable apps for iPhone, and Android.

Skype has added e-gifting capabilities to its Windows and Mac desktop voice chatting application.

Visa's introduction of a global mobile money program doesn't make it a pioneer in using handsets to tap underserved locales, but it does bring scale, open-loop flexibility and likely a lot of future bank issuers to a market that's currently heavy on regional telecom partnerships with closed-loop systems.

It's not going to garner the attention that Square Inc.'s pact with Starbucks created, but Square's latest deal shows it's still eager to brew partnerships with coffee shops.