Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook said Tuesday afternoon that Apple’s new Apple Pay mobile-payment service is doing well three months after its launch, but he gave few details during the company’s latest quarterly earnings call. “Apple Pay is off to a very strong start,” Cook said in his opening …

In a blueprint released Monday for a faster and more secure U.S. payments system, the Federal Reserve called for industry task forces to form early this year and for a “framework” to emerge by 2016 to set rules for near real-time payments. The banking regulator also set out five broad, …

The number of banks and credit unions that support Apple Pay, Apple Inc.’s mobile payment scheme, continues to grow with the First National Bank of Pennsylvania among the latest to join the list. The bank, a unit of Pittsburgh-based F.N.B. Corp., says its debit card users now can use the …

Major tech and payments companies are reportedly showing an interest in acquiring Softcard, the troubled mobile-payments joint venture owned by three of the nation’s biggest mobile operators. Google Inc. is in “exclusive” talks with the company and has offered at least $50 million for it, The Wall Street Journal reported …

Softcard, the mobile-payments venture of Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA, has laid of 60 employees in a restructuring, according to media reports. The layoffs raise questions about the future of Softcard, formerly known as Isis, which has had trouble gaining consumer and merchant acceptance for its near-field communication-based …

Dwolla Inc. has entered the race to simplify—and ultimately speed up—payments between individuals and between organizations and individuals. Starting Thursday, the 6-year-old Des Moines, Iowa-based payments provider is allowing people who don’t have Dwolla accounts to receive payments from Dwolla users and flow them directly into their bank account. The …

  Bitcoin wallet provider Coinbase has launched a “tip” button to enable Coinbase users to make micropayments to Web-site owners. San Francisco-based Coinbase says the button can be used to make one-click payments. The default amount is 300 bits, or about 10 cents this week. Senders can choose other amounts, …

With non-stop data breaches and the coming of EMV chip cards, virtual currency, and mobile wallets, payments seemed to be all over the news in 2014. Here’s our annual review of the top issues in electronic payments. They all defy a soundbite solution. Heading toward its close, 2014 seemed to …

  Merchants using the newly released Evo Snap Mobile smart-phone and tablet-based point-of-sale service from Evo Payments International can create and manage loyalty, rewards, and promotion programs in addition to accepting payments. Melville, N.Y.-based Evo says the Snap Mobile service, available globally, works with iOS and Android devices. In addition …

Issuers signing up to have their cards included in the Apple Pay wallet may benefit from all the hype Apple Inc. is generating for the new mobile-payment service. But behind the scenes, the 500 or so financial institutions that have enlisted in the program so far are also signing up …