Fiserv Inc. has stuck to the same philosophy it had when it formed the EFT Solutions Risk Office three years ago: card-data security isn't an arms race — it's a battle of wits.

PayPal experienced its fastest active account growth rate in years during the fourth quarter, according to parent company eBay Inc. This growth of 15%, to 122.7 million active accounts, came in part from the company's activity in mobile commerce.

Research in Motion Ltd. received a significant stamp of approval for its software from Visa Inc. Visa has approved Waterloo, Ontario-based RiM's secure element manager software for Near Field Communication mobile payments.

WATERLOO, Ontario – Research In Motion announced today that Visa has approved its mobile-payment solution for its Blackberry smartphones.

Square has built its reputation as a quick and simple way for micro-merchants to accept card payments, but the company says it has proven it can serve the more demanding needs of larger retailers.

Payments acquirer WorldPay US is working with Discover Financial Services to allow merchants with brick-and-mortar stores to accept PayPal at the point of sale.

The Office of Fair Trading in Scotland has ordered state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland to stop using "charging orders" to collect small debts.

The mega-retailers' Merchant Customer Exchange venture argues that the mobile-payment system it is developing will appeal to retailers in a way no other mobile wallet can. That’s leaving some companies divided on which mobile approach is best—MCX's focus on gaining retailer acceptance or the emphasis on consumer adoption championed by Isis and others.

If Apple Inc. wants to make a strong move into mobile payments, it could do so by transforming its iTunes database into a payment and loyalty program, a recent industry report says.

After months of internal testing, the prepaid card provider Green Dot is rolling out a beta version of its mobile consumer checking account, named GoBank.

PayPal Inc., pushing ahead with its drive to become the payment option of choice at the point of sale, has entered an agreement with hardware maker NCR Corp.

Jumio Inc. has released an Android version of its Netswipe Mobile technology for accepting card payments with a phone's camera.

"We're open to partnering and playing with the existing networks, but not under the existing rule base," says Jamie Henry, senior payment director of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. "The existing rules that are in place for card-based payments are not going to be acceptable for mobile-based payments."

PEX Card now offers PEX Mobile, the corporate prepaid card company’s suite of iOS and Android applications, to allow card administrators access to their programs through a smartphone.

The same security and privacy tools used to facilitate companies’ bring-your-own-device policies can also be used to secure mobile point of sale systems, according to Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch, a mobile device management software and services provider.

As tax season begins, the prepaid card provider Plastyc Inc. will be able to see whether its technology can help H&R Block transform its prepaid card from a disposable, seasonal product into one they use repeatedly.

FORT WORTH, Texas – First Class American CU has implemented SIGNiX digital signature service so members can securely sign documents online.

Fiserv, the third-largest provider of financial services technology on the FinTech 100 ranking, Monday announced it has acquired Open Solutions, a smaller provider of core banking software. The purchase price was $55 million, and Fiserv assumed approximately $960 million of debt.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – Fiserv has acquired Open Solutions Inc., the provider of back-office credit union and bank systems taken private in 2007 by The Carlyle Group.

VeriFone Systems announced Jan. 14 a suite of payment products, including an iPad mini version of its Payware Mobile card reader, a similar sleeve for the iPhone 5 and VeriFone HQ, a cloud-based system that allows retailers to monitor their terminals and manage their brands.