It has been a wild ride for the payments community the past several years. But is it going anywhere? How do we sort the valuable innovations from the passing fads? I’m pretty sure one winner will be blockchain, also called distributed-ledger technology (DLT). DLT has a solid, provable business case …

Moderating a panel of three investment executives who put money into startup payments firms and other financial-technology companies, Frank Young, senior vice president of innovation at merchant processor Global Payments Inc., noticed well into the Strategic Leadership Forum session Thursday that no one had mentioned artificial intelligence, machine learning, the …

General artificial intelligence is not yet here, but some say it is around the corner. We in the payment realm must prepare for the mind-boggling possibility that non-human entities will behave human-like: make money, own money, lose money, become rich, pay taxes, and build an AI social dynamic much like …

Payments provider BluePay Processing LLC said it will offer TranCloud, an EMV-enabled payments application from Datacap Systems Inc., to merchants. ATM network operator Cardtronics plc said the Speedway convenience-store chain added ATMs at 1,500 stores in eight states to Cardtronics’ Allpoint Network, which means that all 2,550 ATMs in 20 states where Speedway operates …

In 2015, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) expanded its involvement with financial-services innovation, making innovation a key area of focus. In a recent interview, Beth Knickerbocker, the OCC’s inaugural chief innovation officer, said, “The OCC is saying that it’s okay to innovate responsibly.” And although she …

With the blessing of the Federal Trade Commission and Whole Foods Market Inc. shareholders, Amazon.com Inc. on Wednesday cleared the last significant hurdles in the way of its $13.7 billion deal to acquire the Austin, Texas-based chain of some 470 grocery stores. The deal, which was announced in June and …

Bridg Inc., a marketing software company for the restaurant industry, said Thursday that it lined up $11 million in series B funding from Visa Inc. and private-equity firms Morpheus Ventures, NextEquity Partners, and March Capital. Specific investment amounts made by each company were not disclosed. Los Angeles-based Bridg uses artificial …

Some 19% of consumers participating in a recent survey said they have made a product purchase through Amazon.com Inc.’s Echo or a similar voice-controlled device within the past year. The finding is noted in the Future of Retail 2017 report from Chicago-based Walker Sands Communications, a digital marketing services and …

Mastercard Inc. acquired Brighterion Inc., a software company specializing in artificial intelligence that Mastercard expects will enhance its customer-experience and fraud-prevention services for customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PayPal Holdings Inc. and Visa Inc. extended to Europe a collaboration deal first announced last summer. Under the agreement, PayPal’s European operation will promote …

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. …