By Jim Daly MasterCard Inc. announced Thursday that it has a deal to buy gateway businesses from TNS Inc. that will expand the global footprint of its DataCash e-commerce subsidiary. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close by year’s end, were not disclosed. The sale includes two units …

By Jim Daly Results of a merchant processor’s survey released Wednesday claim that only 4% of small businesses have point-of-sale terminals that can accept near-field communication (NFC) contactless mobile payments, and only a small minority currently plan to upgrade their equipment so they can. Meanwhile, payment processor Vantiv Inc. on …

Conspicuously absent from new point-of-sale terminal maker Poynt Inc.’s Oct. 30 unveiling was how the new company’s L-shaped, portable devices would be distributed. The answer to that question came Monday when Poynt chief executive Osama Bedier revealed that two of the nation’s largest merchant acquirers, Chase Paymentech and Vantiv Inc., …

First Data Corp.’s Clover point-of-sale system now is available in a mobile version that enables merchants to roam their store aisles with the device. Dubbed Clover Mobile, the service can be paired with the stationary Clover Station or used as a standalone service, First Data says. Like Clover Station, Clover …

A confident Kenneth I. Chenault appeared before 7,000 payments and financial-services executives on Tuesday to talk about what he touted as American Express Co.’s recent record of success in digital payments. While he runs a 164-year-old company with roots in plastic cards and travelers’ checks, Chenault conceded nothing to his …

  CPI Card Group is working with digital issuance and wallet platform provider Sequent Software Inc. on CPIMobile, a service to deliver secure digital credentials to near-field communication (NFC)-compatible smart phones. CPI announced Monday. NFC is a two-way protocol that enables mobile devices to share data in a secure environment. CPIMobile …

The Gimlet Eye The rapid emergence of mobile devices and mobile apps in retail settings has led some observers of the payments business to predict the near-term demise of the humble point-of-sale payments terminal. We demur, for reasons we lay out in our story “POS Terminals Have a Future, And …

Security Notes If Apple Inc. attached a rolled-up dog leash to its iPhone 6, a majority of dog owners would abandon their old leash and phone-walk their dog—just because it is Apple. So no matter what pundits write about the new Apple Pay mobile-payments service, it will fly high. Conceptually …

  Mobile POS services, integrated software, and migration to the EMV standard are all influencing sales of terminals. Cast aside any preconceptions about the imminent demise of the standalone point-of-sale terminal. That venerable device, which symbolizes payments in the minds of consumers—and recurring revenue for payments professionals—is not going away …

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 …