By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Alphabet Inc.’s Android Pay mobile wallet made some headlines recently with the company’s announcement that the app would be available to Masterpass and Visa Checkout users for Softcard mobile-payments venture managed by leading telecom companies. Smart Tap is available now in all U.S. Walgreen’s stores as …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews As payments firms seek to commercialize emerging online marketplaces, they’re starting to leverage automated routines that promise to overturn traditional transaction methods and, just possibly, deliver on the long-sought goal of so-called frictionless payments. This week, both MasterCard Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. announced new initiatives …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Consumers with Samsung Pay mobile-wallet accounts will be able to use them as a payment method for online transactions thanks to a partnership with Samsung Pay to shop using Masterpass starting in 2017. To use the service, consumers select the Masterpass button on a participating merchant’s e-commerce …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews You thought Visa Inc. was big already? Boosted by Visa Europe and solid growth in the U.S. and some other regions, the world’s largest card network’s credit and debit card payment volume grew 47% in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Foster City, Calif.-based Visa Inc. on Monday …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews U.S. consumers are becoming more aware of mobile payments, which could potentially increase use of the burgeoning digital-payment method. Indeed 56% of them are “extremely aware” of the technology, finds the 2016 North America Consumer Digital Payments Survey from Accenture. In 2015, the figure was 52%. Only …

With an eye on having tangible proposals out by mid-2017, two Federal Reserve task forces are about to evaluate 19 plans to make electronic payments faster. Speed and security usually come to mind first when payments executives talk about improving the U.S. payment system, but other factors increasingly important to …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Best known nationally for its powerful basketball teams, the University of Connecticut is about to make a name for itself in cybersecurity. UConn’s School of Engineering and retail credit provider Synchrony Financial on Tuesday announced that Synchrony is providing $2.2 million to fund a new

• A federal judge in California has allowed an antitrust case to move forward against American Express Co., Discover Financial Services, MasterCard Inc., and Visa Inc. The case was filed in March by Florida merchants as a class-action suit alleging the networks had conspired to shift chargeback liability from banks …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews For years, pundits have said consumers trust banks more than any other entity when it comes to payments options, but that doesn’t mean financial institutions are always delivering the most innovative services. Now a review of mobile-banking and -payments offerings indicates even the nation’s biggest banks …

• ATM network operator Cardtronics plc announced it plans to buy Canadian ATM operator DirectCash Payments Inc. (DCPayments) for $460 million; DC Payments operates 25,000 ATMs and will give Cardtronics its first presence in Australia and New Zealand and expand its operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. • …