Payment should be efficient, secure, and convenient. Alas, these three objectives pull in different directions. Efficiency and convenience tend to undermine security; convenience pulls towards versatility, which in turn harms efficiency. A balance is called for, and the most daring ideas call for a dynamic rather than a static balance. …

Representatives of large retailers including Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. met with federal regulators this week to voice their concerns about a common buy button for e-commerce under development by the major card networks, The Wall Street Journal reported. The retailers’ main concern reportedly is how a buy button …

Mitek Systems Inc. announced Wednesday that it acquired Paris-based Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis (A2iA), a developer of text-recognition and imaging software, for €42.5 million ($49.8 million) in cash and stock. The move bolsters San Diego-based Mitek’s already strong position in the remote deposit capture market and gives it access …

Payments industry veteran Dan Henry has been named chairman of 3PEA International Inc., a prepaid card program manager. President and chief executive Mark Newcomer, who co-founded the company and has served as chairman since 2006, will become vice chairman. Henry was until recently chief executive of prepaid card specialist NetSpend, …

The proliferation of smart watches, voice commerce, and vehicle-based payments has got merchants abuzz about the potential for making purchases more convenient. But securing these payments is a scattershot affair, with each provider wielding its own protocols, attendees learned at the CNP Expo this week in Orlando, Fla. Payments companies …

Ever since banks, merchants, and tech companies first introduced mobile services, they’ve looked for ways to entice more usage by streamlining the way consumers interact with little screens. Now Wells Fargo & Co. has decided to put frequently used payments services on the home screen of its mobile app, before …

Two payments companies are turning to the investment market to raise funds with public offerings. EVO Payments International says it began its roadshow to promote its initial public offering it announced in April. If successful, the IPO could generate anywhere from $186,666,662 to $213,333,328, based on a share value ranging from $14 …

Strong consumer spending and a benign world economy worked in Mastercard Inc.’s favor in the first quarter, lifting the network’s U.S. purchase volume by nearly 11% and profits by over 30%. The No. 2 payment card network by volume on Wednesday reported that U.S. purchase volume rose 11% to $359 …

General-purpose mobile wallets have yet to convince most merchants and consumers that they have real value. Can that change, and if so, when? The hype over mobile wallets hasn’t ceased ever since Google Checkout launched way back in 2006, and it’s only become louder since Apple Inc. unveiled Apple Pay …

The PayPal Holdings Inc. machine just keeps chugging. The company announced on Wednesday added momentum in the first quarter, driven in part by gains in consumer and merchant accounts, results for Venmo, its popular peer-to-peer payments app, and strong performance for One Touch, its streamlined checkout technology. Without offering details, …