By John Stewart Larger screens, buy buttons, and streamlined checkouts are expected to combine to raise the profile of smart phones in e-commerce. And now there are numbers to show just how much retail sales volume the devices will generate. Smart phones will account for $27.7 billion in retail mobile …

As the Oct. 1 EMV liability-shift date nears, and consumers begin receiving even more credit and debit cards bearing EMV chips, educating them and merchants on how the cards are used takes on even greater importance. Just last week, Target Corp. introduced a video and a series of questions-and-answers explaining …

A significant chunk—44%—of small-business owners have no knowledge of the EMV liability shift coming Oct. 1. That finding from “Small Business EMV Readiness,” a report released by Javelin Strategy & Research this week, suggests that many might be in for a shock when their merchant-processing statements arrive in November and …

While many payments firms have complained about the expensive and time-consuming process of getting state money-transmitter licenses, and, more recently, of potentially needing licenses to operate virtual currencies, the regulatory pendulum occasionally swings the other way. Late last month, Illinois quietly dropped a 2013 cease-and-desist order against merchant processor Square …

By John Stewart Why won’t Verizon Wireless make nice with Samsung Pay? With the U.S. debut of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s mobile-payments service just a few days away—and a national launch of Samsung Pay due Sept. 28—all the major mobile network operators have signed on to support the service with …

By John Stewart Evidence emerged this week that the Durbin Amendment may not be cutting debit card acceptance costs for merchants as effectively as its backers intended. Nor has it prompted many merchants to pass on their savings to consumers, according to a paper published in Economic Quarterly, a publication …

The transition to an EMV-based payment card system in the United States could spur a long and sophisticated series of criminal attacks designed to separate consumers and banks from their funds. That’s one possible consequence, says Michael Bruemmer, vice president at Experian Information Solutions Inc.’s Data Breach Resolution group. “Cyber …

American Express Co. is offering new rewards and benefits for using one of its prepaid cards, but at a cost. The card brand and acquirer on Wednesday added a rewards program to its Serve card under the “Serve Cash Back” moniker. Serve Cash Back users, who pay $5.95 per month …

By John Stewart Just 45 days to go until the Oct. 1 deadline for EMV in the United States, and among the issues over which merchants are still wrangling with banks is whether EMV chip cards should be universally issued with PINs—credit cards as well as debit. Merchant groups have …

By John Stewart A new service from Square Inc. that accelerates merchants’ access to their funds in return for a 1% fee is likely to gain popularity among the small sellers that primarily use Square for transaction processing, according to some observers. That may hand Square a key advantage in …