Steve Mott Financial institutions and retailers are natural allies—not enemies—and nowhere can this alliance yield more profitable results than in mobile payments. Here are five problems the two sides must solve to make the most of this great mobile alliance—along with five proposed solutions.(Editor’s note: This article is the second …

Born of the transformed world wrought by Durbin, Visa’s new acquirer fee is either a rational response to changed economics or a diabolical exercise of raw power, depending on whom you ask. By John Stewart Bruce Reisman is an angry man. “I’m not a happy camper. I’m constantly looking for …

The nation’s biggest debit card issuers have reversed polarity and are now promoting PIN-debit cards over signature debit and small-value transactions over bigger tickets, if the results of a debit study released this week are any indication. “Certainly, there’s a fundamental shift under way” among large banks to focus on …

A proposal to change the rules of the automated clearing house network to allow faster clearing times, which last Friday fell short of the votes needed to be enacted, is likely to be resurrected in some form, experts polled by Digital Transactions say. “I don’t think it’s dead, but it’s …

Regardless of how talks between Google Inc. and American Express Co. turn out, it isn’t likely AmEx will shut down its cardholders’ access to the online search giant’s newly overhauled mobile wallet. Indeed, much of the discussion now is likely focused narrowly on the use of the AmEx brand, says …

Google Inc. on Wednesday announced an overhaul of its struggling mobile wallet product that the online search giant hopes will make the product more attractive to consumers and banks alike. Indeed, a key feature of the new Google Wallet is that is now open to any credit or debit card …

The Durbin debit numbers are out, and they aren’t pretty for Visa Inc., the leading debit card player in the U.S. Visa on Wednesday reported that U.S. debit payments volume plummeted 9.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 ended June 30, hitting $266 billion versus $294 billion a year …

With each passing day, the proposed settlement of the giant antitrust suit over credit card interchange and card network rules appears to unravel even more as big-box merchants increasingly express dissatisfaction with the $7-billion-plus deal. The latest is Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which issued a statement on Tuesday opposing the agreement …

Only 2 years old, the Apple iPad has already become the most popular mobile device used by consumers to make payments to online sellers, according to research released on Monday. The iPad, larger than a smart phone but smaller, thinner, and lighter than a laptop, accounted for 3.6% of all …

No sooner had the ink dried on a proposed settlement of a massive credit card suit than cracks began to appear in what had been an edifice of merchant solidarity. The NACS, a national trade group for convenience-store operators, on Friday said its board of directors had unanimously rejected the …