The prospect of combining on one contactless card payments for parking and transit fares would seem like a winner for hundreds of thousands of commuters who drive each morning to transit parking lots and then hop on a train or bus to the office. That was one idea floated last …

Discover Financial Services on Tuesday found itself at the center of two announcements signaling increasing interest in the payments industry in alternative payments and electronic billing. Ebillme, an online-payments service offered by Rye Brook, N.Y.-based ModaSolutions Corp., said online merchants that accept Discover cards will be able to accept eBillme …

The payments industry’s long struggle to bring person-to-person payments to a mass market reached a new milestone in recent days with the addition of real-time settlement. Under an agreement announced late last week, the NYCE Payments Network LLC will offer CashEdge Inc.’s Popmoney person-to-person payments service to its financial-institution clients, …

A philosophical turn by the Federal Reserve Board, having to do with the definition of a “payment card network,” has already raised questions for PayPal Inc. and could have major implications for a wide range of other alternative-payment systems. “It’s a huge issue,” says Conrad Sheehan, chief executive of mPayy …

With more consumers paying bills electronically than are receiving them that way, a startup that lets consumers receive and store digital copies of their bills announced on Tuesday it is introducing a payment service aimed at closing that gap. Seattle-based doxo Inc., which in October launched a document-management service modeled …

Vancouver’s public-transportation authority has selected a $220 million fare-payment system from Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. that includes a transit-only reloadable contactless card but also the ability to accept general-purpose contactless cards. Replacing proprietary fare cards with systems that add transit capabilities to contactless credit and debit cards issued by banks …

Despite the hype about mobile payments, most consumers still aren't comfortable using smart phones to pay for things, according to new research from the Bank Administration Institute and Hitachi Consulting. That, however, could change, and change soon. The study also shows that debit remains consumers' preferred payment choice, though its …

Mobile payments are getting increasingly competitive, and this week the competition ratcheted up even more. Intuit Inc., maker of the QuickBooks accounting software for small businesses, is now offering a free credit card reader for smart phones to merchants using its GoPayment mobile service. Intuit also is waiving monthly service …

In a move that could bring millions of new users to a popular prepaid card program, the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday issued a final rule mandating that Social Security and other government benefits be paid to beneficiaries electronically. Under the new rule, beneficiaries will receive direct deposits …

A major Federal Reserve payments study released last week grabbed headlines for documenting a dramatic three-year increase in electronic transactions, but a closer examination this week by officials who worked on the report highlights a number of subsidiary trends in such key areas as remote deposit capture, person-to-person payments, and …