When it comes to contactless electronic payment transactions, the U.S. payments industry seems to be more interested in using smart phones than plastic debit or credit cards. But other countries have gone the opposite route. In the United Kingdom, for example, spending on contactless cards reached a record £3.4 billion …

Just as they once issued proprietary plastic, retailers are introducing their own mobile wallets. But just how much consumer appeal do these apps have, and will they work equally well for all merchants? In the business of mobile payments, everyone is familiar with the trio of so-called Pays—Android Pay, Apple …

Host card emulation had a moment in the sun a few years ago as Google and banks geared up their mobile wallets. Since then, HCE’s adoption has widened even as its public profile has faded. What’s next for the technology? It just rolls off the tongue: “host card emulation.” As …

Ever since Ant Financial Services Group let it be known in October that it is working with key payments players like VeriFone Systems Inc. and First Data Corp. to bring its Alipay mobile-payments service to North America, the industry has wondered about the Chinese company’s strategy both in the United …

Mastercard Inc. and Oracle Corp. announced Monday a collaboration that could dramatically expand the reach of Mastercard’s Masterpass digital-wallet technology, as well as the network’s tokenization capability. Masterpass will be embedded into Oracle’s POS systems for retail and hospitality merchants. The companies said Oracle will embed Masterpass in systems it …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews It has become an article of faith that mobile payments capability alone won’t excite consumers. The challenge lies in how to meld loyalty with payments in a single tap at checkout for multiple retail chains. On Friday, Urban Airship Inc. announced an integration of its Reach …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Not all private-label charge and prepaid card programs are equally successful, and so neither will be the proprietary mobile wallets recently launched by merchants. Factors that are likely to lead to a successful app include the strength of the retailer’s brand, its commitment to either convenience …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews How enthusiastic are consumers about shopping on their smart phones and tablets? Enough that mobile commerce grew to $22.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 45% from $15.6 billion in the same period a year prior, says comScore Inc., a Reston, Va.-based data-measurement firm. That …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Chase Pay, the nascent mobile-payments service from banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co., has added two more merchants to its roster. HMSHost, a Bethesda, Md.-based dining-services company specializing in transportation locations, and Parkmobile LLC, an Atlanta-based parking company, will begin accepting order-ahead capability based on functionality developed …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews One-third of the payments that consumers made using Pay with Amazon in 2016 were on a mobile device, e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. revealed Tuesday. Pay with Amazon enables consumers to use their Amazon wallets to pay for merchandise on other retailer’s Web sites. In a rare release …