Google Inc. is making a play for the heart of payments—the checking account—and some observers see the strategy’s first fruit as likely to be a move into a massive market long controlled by banks and service providers. “It’s huge,” Krista Tedder, director of payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, says …

Ever since Apple Pay debuted in 2014, Apple Inc. has kept the near-field communication chip in its devices off-limits to payment apps from other companies. But now legislation has appeared in Germany that may force the computing giant to grant access to that all-important chip, which allows Apple phones and …

Now that Google Inc. is making a play for the heart of payments—the checking account—some observers see the strategy’s first fruit as likely to be a move into a massive market long controlled by banks and service providers. “It’s huge,” Krista Tedder, director of payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, …

The Kroger Co. lifted its acceptance ban on Visa credit cards at its Smith’s Food & Drug and Foods Co subsidiaries, according to news reports. Kroger, citing what it called high acceptance costs, first banned the cards at its small Foods Co chain in August 2018 and extended it to the larger Smith’s …

AeroPay, the mobile-payments service from Aero Payments LLC, debuted a 1% cash-back rewards program for its users. AeroPay, which uses a connection to the automated clearing house network for its transactions via Dwolla Inc., says consumers using its iOS or Android app can earn unlimited 1% cash-back rewards. The payout …

JPMorgan Chase plans to discontinue its Chase Pay mobile wallet. Other banks are shuttering their wallet apps, too. Is there no longer—or was there ever—a place for bank-sponsored wallets for mobile payments? Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, collectively “the Pays,” seem to get all the attention when the …

It was probably only a matter of time before the gig economy embraced barbering. A New York City-based startup called Shortcut on Monday announced it was starting its national rollout with an extension of its app-based haircut and hairstyling service to Philadelphia.  Calling itself “the Uber of haircutting and barbering,” …

Technical advances in identification and authentication are finally establishing an alternative to the alarmingly insecure username-­password combo. Owing to the increasing amount of digitization in all areas of life, secure identification and authentication are becoming more and more important. Particularly, the transfer of sensitive data such as payment transactions must …

Alphabet Inc.’s Google subsidiary is adding more services to its Google Wallet for Android mobile devices, and Google’s Chrome Web browser now supports a common e-commerce payment form for merchants that is expected to be integrated into the other major browsers too. United Airlines Inc. in May became the first …

Mobile payments so far account for a mere 2% or less of U.S. general-purpose card payments, according to some estimates, and that’s no surprise to some executives who believe mobile payments haven’t delivered for many merchants. “I don’t think anyone in the market is solving problems for the retailers,” Laura …