The buy button, which only two years ago showed much promise on social networks, has been superseded by the need to accommodate mobile shoppers. They were once thought to be a new way to spur more online transactions as consumers amped up the time they spent on social networks. But, …

As they rapidly evolve, biometric technologies are certain to play a greater role in payment authentication. But, given consumer acceptance and other issues, just how big this role will be is up for debate. With most new developments in payments, there’s a whole lot of talk before any discernible action. …

We were just wrapping up production of this issue when word came that Amazon.com Inc. had offered $13.7 billion to buy Whole Foods Market Inc. The deal, which is expected to close some time between now and the end of the year, will certainly embed e-commerce kingpin Amazon in the …

Apple Inc.’s “Lose your wallet” Apple Pay promotion apparently paid off handsomely for Square Inc. The promotion, which ran June 23-25, saw 36 local merchants in two San Francisco neighborhoods offer discounts or free items with a purchase when consumers paid for the purchase with Apple Pay, the brand’s mobile-payment …

Never mind that the Democratic administration that created Operation Choke Point is gone, a Republican Congressman wants to be doubly-certain that the controversial program that tries to cut off payment services to fraudulent merchants dies. So he has proposals to kill Operation Choke Point in not one but two bills. In …

Cardless cash access at ATMs is expanding. ATM operator Cardtronics plc, which owns or operates more than 233,000 ATMs globally, is adding FIS Cardless Cash access to its U.S. machines, Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) announced Thursday. Launched in 2015, FIS Cardless Cash enables consumers to stage cash withdrawals using …

Canadian merchants now have a self-service tool to accept digital cash in stores via the MintChip Retail Payment Platform announced Wednesday by nanoPay Corp. NanoPay purchased MintChip, a digital currency developed by the Royal Canadian Mint, in 2016. “Since acquiring MintChip from the Royal Canadian Mint, we have focused on enhancing …

Discover Financial Services said it has enabled Samsung Pay on the latest Samsung Galaxy smart phones and wearables for its cards in the United States. Discover announced in 2015 that it would support Samsung Pay. Cross-border payments provider Veem, formerly known as Align Commerce, announced an integration with QuickBooks Online, used by small …

Visa Inc. is investing in Klarna, a Sweden-based payment processor that offers retail credit options for merchants, the card brand announced Tuesday. The intent, Visa says, is to develop a “future strategic partnership,” which appears to focus on Europe, though Klarna also operates in North America. Visa says the deal …

As the nation’s automated clearing house network introduces faster payments, it’s also racking up steady increases in transaction volume. The system processed approximately 5.35 billion payments in the first quarter, notching nearly 7% growth over the first quarter of last year and rebounding smartly from a tepid 3.7% growth rate …