In a move that could herald a time when card issuers will be able to mass produce specialized cards equipped with near-field communication (NFC) technology, Datacard Group on Monday announced it has taken an equity stake in DeviceFidelity Inc., a Richardson, Texas-based startup that makes micro Secure Digital (SD) cards …

All eyes in the payments business these days are on mobile, especially on the potential smart phones have to change the way people shop for stuff and then pay for it in physical stores. So when talk turns to mobile payments in this context, it usually refers to a technology …

Virtual Currencies: Bust-Out Ahead? Witness the recent travails of the euro if you want proof of how hard it is for any new currency, even a physical currency backed by multiple governments, to attain and retain widespread usage and acceptance. The obstacles blocking the new breed of electronic currencies from …

The news is grim, and getting grimmer, for consumers, banks, and traders everywhere. The most fortified cyber fortresses are being overrun by wily hackers worldwide, ranging from lone wolves to state-sponsored data thieves motivated by misplaced playfulness, greed, or some fanatic faith in a moral imperative. Most victims are not …

Government authorities are demanding better merchant underwriting and transaction monitoring by payment processors in order to prevent consumer fraud. A laudable goal, but at what cost? by Jim Daly Almost two years ago, a Federal Trade Commission official made it known to a meeting of merchant-acquiring executives that their industry …

n A payments executive for Sinclair Oil outlines her frustrations with data security—and argues for a major upgrade to EMV. by Trinette Huber We’ve all been hearing a lot about EMV, or chip card technology, lately as some banks and merchants actually issue chip cards and install the terminals that …

With m-commerce shifting into high gear, consumers are expecting a faster, user-friendlier checkout experience. Delivering that kind of experience won’t come from advances in handset hardware, but software. by Peter Lucas In the world of mobile commerce less is more, especially when it comes to checkout. Savvy merchants learned years …

Not content with restrictions on debit card interchange, merchants are now targeting bigger game. A set of major antitrust cases could be just the opening salvo—and a trial is set to start in September. By Linda Punch While the card networks and banks are still wrestling with the repercussions from …

In the Age of Durbin, banks need a product to make them feel good about payments. Enter mobile remote deposit capture, a service with cool factor that could attract and retain customers and even generate new revenue streams. by Peter Lucas Is there anything a smart phone can’t do? It …

Ever since Visa Inc. released a major policy statement in August regarding chip cards in the United States, observers have waited for the other shoe to fall from competing card networks, especially Visa’s biggest rival, MasterCard Inc. That void began to fill in late on Monday with MasterCard’s release of …