Competitive Strategies

Apple Inc.’s new mobile-payment system may be a long-awaited shot in the arm for near-field communication (NFC), but it could also cool off an NFC variant that has caught fire since it emerged only 10 months ago. Apple Pay, which the iconic computer giant unveiled to enthusiastic applause Tuesday, will …

Braintree Inc.’s arrangement to allow its merchants to accept Bitcoin could significantly further a nascent trend among big merchants to take the digital money. Braintree, which PayPal Inc. acquired a year ago for $800 million, processes payments for such fast-growing merchants as house-rental service Airbnb, restaurant-reservation site OpenTable, and taxi alternative …

  Payment processors First Data Corp. and Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) will have key roles in securing transactions using tokenization technology for payments consumers make with Apple Inc.’s newly announced Apple Pay mobile-payments scheme. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant made the announcement as part of its unveiling Tuesday of …

After weeks of fevered anticipation, it’s finally out. Apple Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new payments system called Apple Pay along with its iPhone 6 and large-screen iPhone 6 Plus smart phones and a snazzy new smart watch. As predicted, the updated iPhone uses near-field communication (NFC) technology for fast …

  The Merchant Customer Exchange, a retailer-controlled mobile payment scheme, has given its service a name. Dubbed CurrentC, the service will not be available outside of testing until 2015. First announced in 2012, the long-gestating scheme aims to give participating retailers their own mobile-wallet service that eschews the traditional payment …

Mobile-payments providers have looked to offers and rewards as a means of engaging with consumers and merchants and boosting payments activity. Indeed, most mobile strategists value the technology’s ability to deliver rewards at the moment consumers are in the store, if not necessarily in front of the relevant merchandise. But …

Visa Inc. on Wednesday said eight merchant acquirers and e-commerce platform providers will be rolling out the 1-month-old Visa Checkout online and mobile payment service. With three platform providers already offering the service, up to 4 million U.S. online merchants will be able use Visa Checkout, Visa claims. The acquirers …

Apple Inc. is expected to release its iPhone 6 next month and, not surprisingly, speculation about the coming smart phone’s features is intense. But a new report from IDC Financial Insights cautions that Apple is not out to reshape the mobile-payments industry. Many of the rumors in payments circles center …

Deals for financial and payments technology companies drove worldwide merger-and-acquisition activity in the technology sector to new highs in the second quarter, according to a report released on Thursday. n Transactions for payments and financial technologies firms was especially heavy in the second quarter. The quarter’s 60 deals exceeded the …

In a move that could significantly boost mobile-payments activity, PayPal Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a single-click payment method for merchant apps. Dubbed One Touch, the method allows mobile users to log in once with their user names and passwords, then simply touch or click on a “buy” button for all …