(This is the first part of a two-part column. Part Two will appear next month.) From the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to the laboratories of Silicon Valley, innovation is the most important thing happening in payments today. We are re-inventing not only the technology of payments but …

Some experts may dismiss cryptocurrency as impractical for retail payments, but at least one independent sales organization is doubling—make that tripling—down on crypto for merchant acceptance. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Aliant Payment Systems Inc. last week launched programs for Ether and Litecoin to go along with one for Bitcoin that it …

Despite concerns that the federal government will crack down on state-sanctioned marijuana, a small band of payment providers is working to cash in on an exploding industry. It’s no wonder that legal marijuana merchants, and their banks, have been feeling of lot of angst in 2018. In only a matter …

It doesn’t get a lot of attention in these days of EMV, mobile payments, and digital currency, but carrier billing, one of the oldest forms of digital payments, is poised for growth. Total payment volume globally will triple by 2022, rising from $2.9 billion last year to $9 billion, according …

When news broke last week that eBay Inc. will begin moving away from its tight embrace of PayPal Holdings Inc. for payment processing, investors immediately punished PayPal’s stock, interpreting the move as a big blow to the company’s business. But the frenzy of PayPal shorting may have overlooked one thing: …

Wearables, a hot sector within the booming Internet of Things, are being outfitted with new payments technology. Will wearables generate a tide or just a trickle of new electronic payment transactions? The idea of enabling smart watches, fitness trackers, and other Internet-connected wearable devices to make contactless electronic payments is …

As the payment-facilitator model gains favor, understanding the process to become one has become more important than ever. A few years ago, deciding on a payment model was a simple choice for a software vendor or event organizer: Find an independent sales organization to work with or become one. Then, …

Fraud-prevention specialist Tender Armor LLC intends to use the proceeds from its latest funding round to hire more personnel and launch its marketing efforts. Announced Thursday, the funding round, for an unspecified amount (though characterized as “multimillion”), is a big step in growing the startup, says Madeline K. Aufseeser, chief …

The PCI Security Standards Council on Thursday unveiled its Associate Qualified Security Assessor program aimed at reducing a shortage of data-security professionals in the payments industry. The Wakefield, Mass.-based PCI Council certifies QSA companies to perform assessments of a firm’s compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, the main …

Widely touted as a potent data-masking tool, encryption has been slow to take hold in the payments industry, despite a continuing plague of data breaches. Here’s what’s going on to change that. Kmart, Arby’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Hyatt Hotels.  Those are just some of the merchants that reported data breaches …