The mobile-payments giants Alipay and WeChat Pay  are working hard to expand acceptance outside China, and the United States is a prime market. Here’s what that could mean for U.S. merchants— and for the comparatively less successful U.S. wallets. In the four years since its launch, Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payment …

A divided Supreme Court says American Express Co.’s anti-steering rules for merchants don’t violate antitrust law. What does that mean for card payments, especially with another big card-related court case heading for a settlement? The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 decision upholding American Express Co.’s anti-steering rules for merchants has …

There’s nothing payments executives love more than watching a fight pitting a leading retailer against a big payment card network over credit or debit card acceptance costs and terms. That’s what they’re getting with the current spat between supermarket giant The Kroger Co. and Visa Inc. Citing what it calls …

Payment-industry incumbents, particularly the global credit card networks and their allied banks and processors, can’t rest on their laurels lest fast-growing mobile and non-card payment systems in much of the world leave them in the dust. That was the conclusion of payments researchers Friday who spoke at the Mobile Payments …

Despite its detractors, the so-called gig economy that relies on freelance workers looks like it’s here to stay. And Lyft Inc., a leading ride-share provider that’s a major player in the gig economy, would like to see the payments industry evolve to meet the gig economy’s needs. Ashwin Raj, the …

In response to Canada’s moves to introduce further regulation of its payments industry, the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Transactions Association said this week it is “expanding” its advocacy effort into that country. So far, the ETA’s effort includes hiring a lobbyist to represent the interests of Canadian payments companies and U.S. …

Payment processor First Data Corp. reported late Wednesday that it has extended its joint venture with Wells Fargo & Co.’s Wells Fargo Bank, which is one of the nation’s largest merchant acquirers and an important contributor to First Data’s payment volume and profits, until the end of 2024. Wells Fargo …

Cardtronics plc may have been one of the few companies to benefit from Visa Inc.’s June 1 outage in Europe. It notched a record high volume in the United Kingdom, Edward H. West, Cardtronics chief executive and director, told analysts during a conference call Thursday to discuss the ATM deployer’s …

Will Square Inc. apply for a national banking charter, now that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has opened the door to financial-technology firms? As of late Wednesday, the answer remains unclear. “We’re really well-positioned to broaden access to the financial system, which is our core purpose,” said …

Citing acceptance costs, Foods Co, a California unit of leading supermarket chain The Kroger Co., says it will stop accepting Visa credit cards Aug. 14 at 26 stores. “Foods Co is discontinuing the acceptance of Visa credit cards to save on the high costs associated with the credit card company’s …