A significantly longer range for contactless transactions could be a reality in the market within the next two to five years, according to news released this week by the NFC Forum, the standards body for near-field communication technology. The current standard for contactless payments is five millimeters, or about one-fifth …

Members of the U.S. military are reporting problems with digital payments apps more frequently than the general population, and peer-to-peer payment apps account for more of those complaints than any other type of payments technology, according to data released Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB reported receiving, …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking at creating a rule to define so-called larger companies in the consumer-payments industry, according to a notice the regulator posted on Tuesday. The rule if established would clarify the CFPB’s supervisory authority with respect to nonbank payments companies, lending more impetus to a …

Few retail markets have rebounded from Covid lockdowns as fast as restaurants have. And few have attracted as much attention from payments companies. No wonder. Sales at what the National Restaurant Association calls “eating and drinking places” in the United States totaled $88.1 billion in April, up 0.6% from March. …

As proponents and adversaries wrangle over the newly resurrected Credit Card Competition Act, a market-research firm has raised by more than one-third its estimate of how much the bill could save U.S. merchants. A year ago, the firm, Atlanta-based CMS Payments Intelligence Inc., calculated the bill would result in $11 …

The Credit Card Competition Act is making a comeback, this time with more bipartisan support. The bill, originally launched last summer by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan,), is expected to be reintroduced in the Senate, apparently with few changes, as early as this week, according to an …

Two major practitioners of the art of payments orchestration have announced cloud-based payments vaults within hours of each other. Both new services, from Spreedly Inc. and Gr4vy Inc., promise sophisticated management of a wide range of payments data in a bid for more efficient transaction routing and settlement on behalf …

Fiserv Inc. will discontinue its longstanding Popmoney peer-to-peer payments service on June 30, the processing giant said, following notices being posted by participating banks. The move comes as the processing giant shifts its priorities to supporting the bank-owned Zelle network, according to a Fiserv spokesperson. “Due to the tremendous success …

Citing a strong user preference for PayPal and Venmo, the digital-disbursements provider Onbe early Tuesday said it is adding the two channels to its menu of payment choices. The move brings two major payments platforms to the Chicago-based company’s payout options, which includes the mobile -payments providers Apple Pay and …

U.S. investment managers have grown bullish about Bitcoin’s prospects despite recent events that have roiled digital-currency markets, research released Wednesday indicates. Feeding the renewed optimism are prospects for “improved regulation” and expectations of a “recovery in valuations” for Bitcoin, according to the research, in which 30 major investment managers were …