Near-Field Communication (NFC)

The latest battle between merchants and the major card brands has been brewing behind the scenes for months but went public Thursday when an advocacy group for big-box retailers charged that a new twist on network rules is slowing the progress of mobile payments. The controversy involves regulations long maintained …

The use of credit cards in the United States is rising, and new payment options like Apple Pay and Android Pay are gaining popularity. You can bet consumers paying at parking meters, vending machines, or pharmacy-pickup windows will start to expect the convenience of these multiple payment options. 1. EMV …

Wells Fargo Bank N.A.’s announcement Tuesday that it would launch a mobile wallet with payments capability built into the Android version of its banking app could be a win for the bank, and herald similar moves by other banks. That’s the assessment from Daniel Van Dyke, an analyst at Javelin …

Confronted with pokey EMV transactions, consumers and merchants in the United States may be eagerly looking for the contactless revolution to start. But in the United Kingdom, the wave-and-pay method is already picking up quite a head of steam. Consumers in the U.K. performed just over 1 billion contactless transactions …

• Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) said it is integrating a machine-learning engine from Featurespace that will allow the processor to generate real-time decisions on individual consumers. TSYS says the speedier fraud-control processing will help prepare its clients for the arrival of real-time payments. • Plastc Inc., which markets a …

• Groupon Inc. sold its Breadcrumb restaurant point-of-sale unit to Upserve Inc., a startup focusing on restaurant-management solutions. Terms were not disclosed, but Groupon will take an equity interest in Upserve, formerly known as Swipely Inc. Founded in 2011, Breadcrumb was acquired by Groupon in 2012. • Apple Inc.’s Apple …

MasterCard Inc. expects the first wearable payment devices for use on its network to be available later this year, Sherri Haymond, senior vice president for digital payments for MasterCard, tells Digital Transactions News. The devices are part of MasterCard’s Commerce for Every Device Program, which is intended to add payment …

Universal mobile wallets have yet to gain the hearty embrace of merchants and consumers, unlike those serving a solitary merchant. But that will change, forecasts the “Merchant Mobile Wallets: Mobile Payments in Action” report released Wednesday by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The report from the Maynard, Mass.-based payments consultancy predicts …

When it comes to mobile-payments services like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, the payments industry appears to be seeing adoption. But it could be years before it sees steady usage. The adoption picture, as defined by cardholders loading a card, is improving for Apple Pay, according to the latest numbers …

In another indication of the rebound of near-field communication for payments, some 148 million consumers globally will use the contactless technology in a mobile or wearable device to buy something this year, according to the latest report from Juniper Research, released Monday. Fully 70% of these consumers will be wielding …