As the payments industry contends with ongoing state and federal regulatory inquiries, the Electronic Transactions Association will release an updated version of its “Guidelines on Merchant and ISO Underwriting and Risk Monitoring” in February. The final edits are being made, says Deana Rich, principal of Deana Rich Consulting Inc., which …

Samsung Pay, the mobile wallet that uses near-field communication (NFC) and magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology, is developing a set of simple tools merchants can use to create offers and manage loyalty programs. The tools should be available this year. That’s the word from Will Graylin, global co-general manager of …

Consumers using mobile-banking sites or apps make only sporadic use of their ability to pay bills, send money to other individuals, or load a prepaid card, finds new research from Javelin LLC, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based payments-research firm. In the “2015 Mobile Banking, Smartphone, and Tablet Forecast” released Tuesday, Javelin found …

The more than 72,000 students and faculty members of Arizona State University have a new app to help them find deals from local merchants. Dubbed ASU Deals, the app, available for iOS and Android mobile devices, enables users to search for local deals and receive notifications from merchants. Developed by …

Sales agents at independent sales organizations and software vendors have a new mobile point-of-sale service to sell merchants. MyOmny, which is available for smart phones and tablets using iOS and Android operating systems, has launched. Developed by Dallas-based Avalon Solutions Group, myOmny is an app that merchants download to their …

In the face of reports of generally mediocre mobile-wallet usage, a report issued this week indicates the picture may brighten soon. Thirty-nine percent of consumers have used a mobile-payments service in a store within the past year, and 73% of these have done so just within the past three months, …

Prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. has acquired GiftCards.com LLC and OmniCard LLC for $120 million, the prepaid specialists announced Wednesday. GiftCards.com specializes in selling digital and physical prepaid cards through its Web site. OmniCard sells customized prepaid incentive and rewards cards to businesses. Both entities had been …

Young adults and high earners have something in common. Both consumer groups are less likely than consumers overall to use debit cards, according to a report released Tuesday by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The report, “Consumers and Debit in the U.S.: Heightened Security Concerns,” canvassed more than 3,000 U.S. adults …

Open-loop financial-services prepaid cards will be one of the fastest-growing segments for prepaid over the next two years, forecasts the “12th Annual U.S. Prepaid Cards Market Forecasts, 2015-2018,” recently released by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The report, which gauges the growth potential of both open-loop and closed-loop prepaid cards, also …

As 2016 beckons, multiple challenges and opportunities await the payments industry and the Electronic Transactions Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents the merchant-acquiring and -processing industry. Incoming ETA board president Greg Cohen says the association, and the payments industry it represents, are in the midst of a transformation …