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A wireless connectivity standard known as Bluetooth Low Energy appears to be getting a high-energy reception in payments and commerce. Apple Inc. is among the first to put the technology to use in its stores. On-the-spot rewards company Shopkick is testing it in two Macy’s stores, one in New York …
Read More »Retailer-Backed MCX Signs up ‘Heart’ of Commerce, Locks in Merchant Acceptance
While questions remain concerning when it will launch and how it will work, the Merchant Customer Exchange mobile-payments venture continues to sign up retail companies large and small. And in a twist unique to MCX, with each merchant it signs for acceptance it apparently fences off that merchant from competing …
Read More »Square Tries To Reinforce Its Hip Image With a Fourth-Generation Card Reader
Square Inc. on Monday introduced the fourth generation of its now-famous payment card reader for mobile devices. The company has added new technology and made the device 45% thinner than its 22-month-old predecessor, two factors that may reinforce Square’s message that it is the cool merchant processor, different from all …
Read More »Pay And Walk-Away App Debuts To Let Physical Merchants Combat Showrooming
A new smart-phone app hopes to give retailers an edge in capturing sales when consumers use their mobile devices in their stores. Dubbed SelfPay, the app enables consumers to pay for merchandise while standing in a store aisle and leave without stopping at a cash register. Developed by Digital Retail …
Read More »AmEx’s Third-Party Issuance Program Picks Up Speed With U.S. Bank And Wells on Board
The recent announcement that U.S. Bancorp would issue American Express-branded credit cards brings yet another big domestic bank into American Express Co.’s network of third-party issuers under a strategy AmEx uses to build transaction volume. AmEx had 77 so-called Network Card License (NCL) arrangements with banks worldwide at the end …
Read More »SimplyTapp, the Power Behind Google’s NFC Workaround, Aims at Mobile Banking
Ever since Google Inc. stunned the payments business early last month with its mobile operating system update that skirts the secure element for near-field communication, all eyes have been on a tiny startup in Austin, Texas, called SimplyTapp Inc. The 2-year-old company, with six full-time employees, has kept busy answering questions …
Read More »Co-Op Financial Services Brings in FIS And Enhances Its Sprig Mobile Wallet
Co-Op Financial Services, a vendor and network provider to 3,500 credit unions serving 30 million debit card holders, is upgrading its Sprig mobile wallet with technology and services from the big processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) and its PayNet payment network. Sprig’s upgrade comes at a time when …
Read More »ABnote Adds NFC Support to its Mobile Wallet Via OTI’s Audio-Jack Plug-in Device
ABnote is adding support for near-field communication (NFC) technology to its miWallet mobile wallet with the addition of the Wave device from Israeli technology vendor On Track Innovations Ltd., ABnote recently announced. The device connects to mobile devices using the audio jack on smart phones and tablets. When connected, it …
Read More »Analyst: Discover’s Merchant Network Might Be a Good Buy for a Mobile-Wallet Provider
Should Discover Financial Services sell its network business? That’s the intriguing question raised by an analyst at investment-banking firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report assessing how mobile devices and related technologies are rapidly reshaping the payments industry. Sanjay Sakhrani, a managing director at New York City-based KBW, argues …
Read More »Despite Brand Power And a Promising Start, MasterPass And V.me Face ‘Uphill Battle’
Consumers shopping at apparel retailer J.Crew Group Inc.’s e-commerce site now can use MasterCard Inc.’s MasterPass digital wallet, marking yet another merchant signing on to the program. In October, retailers Beyond the Rack and PC World and travel companies LastMinute.com and Porter Airlines also began offering MasterPass on their Web sites. …
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